History Music / Starflyer59

The debut album, ''Silver'', was reverb- and distortion-drenched pop-rock--either one of the final albums of {{Shoegazing}}'s first wave, or one of the first post-Shoegazing albums. Sf59's subsequent albums leaned more towards lounge (''Gold'') and hard rock (''Americana''), but the shoegaze label stuck, despite Jason's reluctance.[[note]]See the page quote. Also, J. Edward Keyes has noted that Jason's default reaction to the unavoidable Music/MyBloodyValentine comparisons was a dismissive, "We're not nearly as brilliant as they were."[[/note]] After those three albums (and some songs intended for a fourth album that were ultimately shelved), Jason decided that he'd finished saying everything he wanted to say with guitar distortion, so it was time to do something different.

** ''Volume 1'' has Sf59's original tune "A Holiday Song", and Bon Voyage covering "Holly Jolly Christmas".
** ''Volume 2'' has Sf59 covering "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".
** ''Volume 3'' has Sf59 covering ''I'll Be Home for Christmas''.
** ''Volume 4'' has Sf59 covering "[[WesternAnimation/ACharlieBrownChristmas Christmastime Is Here]]".

* CoverVersion: Many through the years, although none were featured on Sf59's proper albums.

-->"Hey man, did you write it for me?\\
It seems like it, that really spoke to me."\\
"You made it up, you made it up, \\
you made it up, you just make it up."

* GoshDangitToHeck / UnusualEuphemism: Sf59's lyrics eschew harsh language, except for "hell" in two songs (as in "You know we had one hell of a dad" in the song "No New Kinda Story"). Outside the music, Jason would say "shin" and "eff" in place of actual obscenities.
* GuestStarPartyMember: Music/DaveBazan (of Pedro the Lion) co-wrote and sings lead vocals on "Broken Arm". This is, in fact, the only Sf59 song to date where someone besides Jason sings the lead.

-->Was it really better back then?\\
Were there really less problems?\\
Or was it really just because then\\
you weren't so numb?

** To an episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' in "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E86KickTheCan Kick the Can]]":

** Music/{{Bread}}'s "Guitar Man", on ''Ghosts of the Future''.

->''[[AlternativeRock Alternative music]] doesn't exist. [[{{Shoegazing}} Shoegazer music]] has been dead since 1991. The only shoegaze music we ever did is maybe "The Zenith" from ''Silver''--even that wasn't current when it came out. Now, I hear bands that are doing what I tried to do four years ago--stuff that wasn't current even at that time. Like the Bible says, "[[ItsBeenDone There is nothing new under the sun]]," especially in Christian music. I just want to be a decent songwriter, not a follower.''

Jason is a Christian; although faith doesn't come up often in his songs (on many albums, the only indication of his beliefs is a single-sentence dedication to "Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior" in the liner notes) he has no problem self-identifying as ChristianRock. He doesn't believe there's any real difference between "a Christian band" and "[[NotChristianRock Christians in a band]]".

Jason Martin pressed on, recording a series of albums which all employed wall-of-sound production in different ways. 2001's ''Leave Here a Stranger'' evolved the prior albums' pop into a synth-orchestrated BaroquePop tribute to ''[[Music/TheBeachBoys Pet Sounds]]''. 2003's ''Old'' was an energetic, effects-drenched mix of Space Rock and DreamPop. 2004's ''I Am the Portuguese Blues'' was a weird throwback--the shelved post-''Americana'' demos re-recorded as UpToEleven blues-rock. 2005's ''Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice'' was a mellower follow-up to ''Old'', backed by a live string trio.

* SelfTitledAlbum: The first two albums were both officially named ''Starflyer 59''. ''Silver'' and ''Gold'' were the {{fan nickname}}s, which were eventually [[AscendedFanon used as the official titles]] for the re-releases.

* Charlie Martin: drums (on ''Young in My Head'')

# ''Silver'' (1994; reissued with bonus tracks in 2005)

# ''Gold'' (1995; reissued with bonus tracks in 2005)

** ''Minor Keys'' EP (2009) Download-only release.

* YourCheatingHeart: Jason has said that ''Old'' was partially inspired by friends who wrecked their marriages by committing adultery. Hence the song lyrics like "To find that party / you break all your family ties," (from "New Wife, New Life") and "You know I'm gonna leave her, / I've always been a cheater. / It's a nice try, / you never get your loved one back," (from "The Lights On").

* Charlie Martin: drums ( on ''Young in My Head'')

* Trey Many: drums (''My Island'' to present, with the exception of ''The Changing of the Guard'')

'''Lo Tom''' is a collaboration with Dave Bazan (formerly of Pedro the Lion). An album should come out... any day now...

* MelismaticVocals: "Like [[{{Shane}} Sha-a-a-a-ane]], he comes when he's needed."

--->[[DanielAmos Through the speakers]] and through the walls...

Starflyer 59 is an AlternativeRock "band" from Riverside, California. Jason Martin is the guitarist, vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, producer, and [[IAmTheBand only permanent member]].

It'll make us young, like [[Creator/RodSerling Serling]] says.[[note]]Which is DidNotDoTheResearch, since "Kick the Can" was actually written by George Clayton Johnson.[[/note]]

--->Like [[Music/TheSmiths Johnny Marr]] I want my [[Music/TheSmiths "Please, Please, Please."]]
** He name-drops ''Theatre/DeathOfASalesman'' in "Automatic". (Though in the demo version, the line was "[[BirthOfANation Death of a Nation]]".)
** "{{Shane}}", of course.
** To ''TheTwilightZone'' in "Kick the Can":

It'll make us young, like Serling says.

Jason Martin pressed on, recording a series of albums which all employed wall-of-sound production in different ways. 2001's ''Leave Here a Stranger'' evolved the prior albums' pop into a synth-orchestrated BaroquePop tribute to ''[[TheBeachBoys Pet Sounds]]''. 2003's ''Old'' was an energetic, effects-drenched mix of Space Rock and DreamPop. 2004's ''I Am the Portuguese Blues'' was a weird throwback--the shelved post-''Americana'' demos re-recorded as UpToEleven blues-rock. 2005's ''Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice'' was a mellower follow-up to ''Old'', backed by a live string trio.

In 2011, Starflyer 59 parted ways with Tooth & Nail Records. They continued making music, and released their 13th album (and first completely independent album), ''IAMACEO'', in January 2013. The separation was short-lived, however: Jason returned to T&N for the 2016 album ''SLOW''.

# ''SLOW''

* BookEnds: ''SLOW'' begins with "Slow" and ends with "Numb", both slow ballads. The middle of the album is a bunch of faster and/or louder songs.

# ''SLOW'' (scheduled for June 2016)

'''Bomb Beach''' is a collaboration with Dave Bazan (formerly of Pedro the Lion). An album was scheduled for 2014.

* BookEnds: The liner notes of ''Silver'' (Sf59's first album with Tooth & Nail Records) include a black-and-white photo of an unidentified neighborhood, from a hilltop. The liner notes of ''The Changing of the Guard'' (their last album with Tooth & Nail) feature a similar black-and-white photo from a similar angle. It could very well be the same neighborhood in both photos, but it's unknown if this is true.

* RevisitingTheRoots: The album ''I Am the Portuguese Blues'' was a deliberate throwback to their first three albums: lots of guitar distortion and no keyboards, in contrast with the SynthPop-influenced sound they had evolved into since then. (In fact, most of the tracks were unreleased demos from that era, re-recorded for this album.) Its cover art (a solid color, with no text at all) was also a reference to those first three albums.

In 2011, Starflyer 59 parted ways with Tooth & Nail Records. They continued making music, and released their 13th album (and first completely independent album), ''IAMACEO'', in January 2013. The latest word ([[https://twitter.com/starflyer59/status/647261494694952960 via Twitter]]) is that a 14th LP is in the works, and it will be a return to the "lounge-gaze" style of ''Gold''.

As a sign of just how important Starflyer was to Tooth & Nail Records' success, the 2014 documentary about the label's history was named ''No New Kinda Story'', after the Sf59 song.

'''Bomb Beach''' is a collaboration with Dave Bazan (formerly of Pedro the Lion). An album is scheduled for 2014.

* ShoutOut: Several.
** To two of his musical influences in "Minor Keys":

--->Like [[TheSmiths Johnny Marr]] I want my [[TheSmiths "Please, Please, Please"]].

* TheCoverChangesTheGender: When Bon Voyage covered TheSmiths' "Girlfriend in a Coma", they didn't change the lyrics at all.

** He name-drops ''DeathOfASalesman'' in "Automatic". (Though in the demo version, the line was "[[BirthOfANation Death of a Nation]]".)

''(Ronnie Martin, meanwhile, went down his own path, and retooled Dance House Children into the one-man synth-pop band JoyElectric, and was every bit as prolific as his little brother.)''

'''The Brothers Martin''' saw Jason reunite with [[JoyElectric his brother Ronnie]] for the first time since the Dance House Children days. Both brothers' love for NewWaveMusic resulted in their collaborative album attempting to out-80's the 80's themselves. Now that Ronnie has relocated to Ohio, a follow-up album is very unlikely.