Tom Lynch

For me, walking into a wall of shoegazer ethereality—barely audible, highly reverbed vocals and loud, fuzzy guitars—is always kind of like coming home. Chicago trio STAR—whose album "Devastator" is one of the most enjoyable local records of the year—invokes such a feeling in me, as does its live show, which I experienced after I stumbled upon a free performance a couple weeks ago at Quencher’s. The band’s quick, two-to-three-minute pop songs, battered by nearly abrasive, tonally perfect guitar and bass, frontwoman Shannon Roberts’ dreamy vocals and pre-recorded beats, benefit from influence by The Jesus and Mary Chain and Slowdive, but never devolve into short-sighted mimicry. "I guess when I do the writing [of the lyrics]," Roberts says, "since it’s not just me and the songs are coming from the other guys, I [try to make them all] unisex songs. I never wanted it to be ‘Oh, my boyfriend,’ I didn’t want to speak for them. I do think about that—how the songs can represent all of us." The band operates like an assembly line, one member adding his part, passing along to another, until it ends up in Roberts’ hands, when she lies down the vocal tracks. "It’s a surprise how it’s gonna be at the end," she says. "I love working that way."

STAR plays August 22 at Double Door, 1572 North Milwaukee, (773)489-3160, at 9pm. $5. (2007-08-14)

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