Star Decay delivers raw gritty punk guitar tones with surfy reverb, overdriven bass and aggressive garage rock drumming. Their debut album Lose Your Head drives hard swirling retro psychedelic rock with Osees / Frankie and The Witch Fingers style acid punk. They are carrying on the Bay Area tradition of sick riffs and fuzzy fucked up rock. Their debut album Lose Your Head was released in June of 2024 and is packed with psyched out rock.
The opening track ‘Simple‘ rides the back beat rhythms and melodic guitar runs laced with ratty fuzz and reverb. Vocal harmonies back the lead singer on the verses and chorus. The guitar is front a center in the mix going from jangling chords to speaker ripping leads. Star Decay gives a distinctive nod to the psychedelic garage rock music of yesteryear while being modern first and foremost. The guitar slides into leads with plenty of tubey reverb and down and dirty style.
Star Decay is from Oakland, California and is a three piece with drums, bass, and guitar. Lose You Head is the first album from the band which formed in 2022. The guitarist and bassist will change instruments and can alternate the vocal roles making for a varied sound. The band is in their early adn exciting stage of development and will hopefully have much more to come in the upcoming years.
Their first single is ‘I’ve Tripped Harder’ which starts with a stripped down surfy chords complete with beachy vibrato. The vocals are loose with a megaphone effect distorting and compressing the sound. The chorus has harmonies on the the lines “I don’t even know you but I love you“. The guitar solo echoes with a juicy tone bending and sliding through a pentatonic scale. The vocals bring the music together not just with the melodies but also with their attitude and style that is grunge and punk infused.
Star Decay combines retro rock with modern heavy psychedelic rock. They take the hip-shaking riffs of yesteryear and pair it with blown-out effects, guitar solos, and heavy rock riffs with textured distortion. They capture the vibe of underground psych-rock with lysergic attitude, punk inspirations and a love for the speaker breakup caused by layered echo, reverb, fuzz and distortion. They embody edgy rock that feels ready to explode.
Live settings feel at home for Star Decay due to the raw energy they exude. This is the kind of music that should be blowing out ear drums with cranked up amps and thrashing audiences. The vocals pushing and feeding off the energy of the crowd. They have done an excellent job of capturing the live excitement of their songs. They gig in the Bay Area sharing stages with bands like Family Of Light, Spiral Electric, Rose Haze and Sun Atoms. With many more shows upcoming be sure to head to their socials and catch the next gig.
Star Decay‘s album Lose Your Head sits on the fringes of rock music with their distinctive style, a place where the most creative music lives. They fit nicely in the underground psych rock genre carrying all the essential elements such as heavy reverb, fuzz and energetic vocals. They are a band that could turn out psyched out jams or embrace short electric rock songs. One thing is certain, the album rocks and feels like the humble starting point that could evolve progressively to something very special. The band could take their music in many different directions and I am on the edge of my seat to see what they do next.
https://stardecay.bandcamp.com
