Bliss Aquamarine, July 2003

Starts with Inclined to Fall, a laid-back pop song based mainly around piano, with some additional atmospheric noisy guitar. Greatest Disappointment of the Year is dark pop that somehow makes me think of sleazy jazz, though it's not really either of these things. You Buried Your Face is excellent melancholic and slightly off-centre pop with an almost psychedelic guitar & keyboard instrumental at the end. The Boy Who Held His Breath Too Long is very different to the rest of the EP, being basically pop-punk with jokey/quirky lyrics. Jonny from the band says it lets down the EP somewhat - I wouldn't go this far cos it is a good song, but it does sound like a totally different band to the rest of the tracks, and if you like EPs to have a uniform feel, you might think this song is rather out of place on here.

Music Corner (US), May 2002

Over the course of just 4 songs on their latest EP, this Cambridge UK band shows tremendous potential. Reminiscent of bands like Grandaddy, Mojave 3 and Sigur Ros, the disc starts with “Inclined To Fall”, a delicate, introspective, piano based track (and my favorite) with hushed vocals and subtle guitars swirling through the middle. The title track follows a similar path stylewise, but instead of the emphasis being on the piano it’s on the other instruments including a more subdued keyboard. The next cut, “You Buried Your Face” is an odd little piece that works beautifully, starting simply with falsetto vocals and keyboards then building with what sounds like a drum machine, bass and guitar, falling back to vocals and keyboards in the chorus and then exploding at the end. They close the disc with “The Boy Who Held His Breath Too Long”, an incredibly infectious piece of Brit power pop that definitely doesn’t fit in with the other 3 cuts, but is just as good in it’s own way. Most definitely one of the best discs I heard in 2001, and one I really look forward to hearing followed up.

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Original Sin, 2002

Does something like a typical British sound exist? I guess lots of people will disagree but somewhere it’s up there like they put something in the water… Anyway The stars of aviation are a band from Cambridge whose careerlength might be quite short but quite impressive at the same time cos after four months since they recorded something it already was been praised by John Peel and originally "Greatest disappointment" was supposed to be a saleable demo but it turned out to be a real recording on grandpa Records so there’s not much that can disappoint our friends… The band reminded me most of Hefner and a bit of the Delgados cos it’s like The stars of aviation understood what it is to bring back intelligent pop. It really is a band with a future and it’s like they wanna give Scott Walker a sort of indiedress and so far it worked fine!!!!

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Goodss (Japan), April 2002

First UK The Birmingham band,The Stars of Aviation. In the afternoon of Saturday it is unfriendly It seems that we would like to hear, being calm Very warmly the sound which is the straw raincoat It is easy. Coldplay and Lowgold As for favorite main point check.

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Impact Press (US), July 2001

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In Music We Trust (US), July 2001

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hEARd (Australia), May 2001

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Summersalts (US), May 2001

Sure we all know about the musical heritage of England's number one college town, Oxford - Ride and Radiohead alone justify anyone picking up a guitar in the land of the spires - but what has ever come from Oxford's great rival, Cambridge? Until now, nothing at all. But Stars Of Aviation are here to put their own town on the map as more than perpetual losers of the stupid boatrace, and with this, the 'Greatest Disappointment' EP, they've already succeeded. In a very English style, SOA elevate the aching promise of lost dreams and broken futures with a minimalist soundtrack that glides through a disappointing world. The vocals are low and breathy, the guitars are sighing in the background, yet somewhere within the melancholy glimmers a small coal of hope. SOA are the sound of an individual raging against the dying of the light even when all exits are closed and sealed. 'Inclined To Fall' spends most of it's duration laying in pools of red wine on a bedroom floor with cold dead of space guitar tremors way off in the distance. Of course, the guitars finally start reverberating off the floorboards but it's too late and this brief grasp at optimism just cements the desperation solid. Absolutely gorgeous. It's not 100% doom and gloom though. 'The Boy Who Held His Breath Too Long,' a veritable carnival ride on a 4-track EP of highly evolved misery, even has a sense of humor as demonstrated by the Monty Python style backing call-and-response vocals that pop up half way through. There's more than one string to the SOA bow and I'm eagerly awaiting a full-length.... Plus: the awesome kiddy-style website at www.starsofaviation.co.uk Minus: SOA used to be called 'Florence' which conjures up dairy cows more than lush Italian cities. Florenzia, maybe...

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Fake Jazz (US), May 2001

The Greatest Disappointment EP is the second EP from the Cambridge, England Quartet The Stars of Aviation. The four song EP begins with the subtle piano-based song "Inclined to Fall," and is followed up by two more well crafted songs that through their instrumentation, vocals, and melody seem to paint a picture rather than create a mood. The fourth and final song is somewhat of a disappointment though compared to the first three. "The Boy Who Held His Breath Too Long" is not a bad song, but for me its pop enthusiasm and guitar solo seems oddly out of place after three beautiful, stark, and almost haunting songs. According to the band's bio, it's the song that seems to be getting the most attention from live audiences and radio stations, which is probably why they included it, but if the record would have ended with the somewhat chaotic climax of "You Buried Your Face." It would leave me wanting more with out being so distracted. 10/12

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XFM (UK), May 2001

Simple, heartfelt and glorious...but thankfully without being twee! And they can still give it some welly with the guitars. A satisfying combination.

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Action Attack Helicopter (US), April 2001

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Invisible Youth (US), April 2001

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Aiding and Abetting (US), April 2001

Understated, deeply introspective songs that immediately demand attention. The Stars of Aviation set the table right and then deliver a sumptuous feast. Not one of those bells-and-whistles sorta dinners, but more of a candlelight affair where the duck is crispy and succulent.
The guys have a knack for developing their songs. These pieces starts slowly and build in intensity (if not in volume) until something appropriate happens. A shattering climax. A slow fade. Something like that.
What I'm saying is that the band refuses to follow formulas. These songs are small symphonies, works that illuminate rather than educate. Knowing the difference is one of the small things that makes the Stars of Aviation most impressive.

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Norman Records (UK), April 2001

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Strange Fruit (UK), March 2001

Sometimes, quiet subtlety says more than any burst of loud guitar. Subdued vocals and a lulling beat slowly swelling into controlled emotional sound can truly inspire the listener. The Stars of Aviation understand this better than most, it would seem, and in this understanding have unwittingly produced one of the most gorgeous records I’ve heard for a while.
‘Inclined To Fall’, the first track here, is an exercise in musical heartbreaking glory. Starting slowly, swaying soothingly with constrained, understated vocals, the track builds from acoustic guitar, piano and drumbeat into an echoing crescendo of guitar, almost overwhelming the listener and doing so quite unexpectedly. This is followed by ‘Greatest Disappointment Of The Year’, a track that follows the same formula, and borrows heavily from Tram. It’s beauty lies in its effortlessness, creating complex songs with what sounds like minimal effort.
At least, it feels like minimal effort until you reach the last track. After ‘You Buried Your Face’ ebbs away, the music suddenly begins to double back on itself, growing louder, distorted, almost furious. And then ‘The Boy Who Held His Breath Too Long’ begins, and shockingly manages to be one of the most engagingly loud glam-pop songs this side of The Wannadies finest moments! Completely out of the blue, it’s refreshing, and makes you realise that The Stars Of Aviation are multitalented indeed. Excellent. PH.

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Unbarred (UK), March 2001

OPENER "Inclined to Fall", is an understated gem of a tune. A gentle piano lullaby, with rippling, epic guitar swathes, reaching its peak and then, inevitably, collapses to a gentle piano fade out- it couldn't end any other way.
TSA don't settle on one style throughout the sparse four tracks, "Greatest Disappointment of the year" is a smoky, bar-room work out, easy comparisons could be made with Portishead, yet they shift from low key, jazz-laden drum and bass to organ driven, uplifting guitar pop within two minutes of "You Buried your face", and the strange thing is, it works beautifully. The organ break in the middle is sublime and the vocals manage to be fragile and sweet without becoming maudlin.
Inevitably this isn't perfect. "The Boy who held his breath too long" is something of a let-down, betraying the earlier tracks by reverting to ordinary guitar pop-rock. The big build up at the start sounds exciting but the organ sounds piss weak compared to the drums and it is all fairly bad Smiths parodying from then on. Its only redeeming feature is the widdley-widdley, dot music guitar solo mayhem at the end of it.
That aside, a good second release from this Cambridge group. 8/10

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Tangzine (USA), 18th March 2001

It seems that British music comes and goes in waves. The most recent wave hitting the states has come to us thanks to Coldplay, Badly Drawn Boy, and David Gray, and like any wave there are bound to be plenty of other acts not being talked about. One such act might be Stars of Aviation, a fine little independent act, whose record somehow made it across the Atlantic to my mailbox.
Titled the Greatest Disappointment, this four song EP is anything but that. The first song, 'Inclined to Fall' starts the short set of songs off with a pretty strum of a piano and like Grandaddy takes the listener into another place. While it is by far the strongest of the four tracks, the record continues to impress throughout its remaining tracks.
Stylistically they are what one might expect coming from England, but they manage to change things up enough to keep it interesting throughout the four tracks. Piano and organ add to the songs' dreamy soundscape, which is accented by lush vocals. Taking an introspective and melancholy approach with the first three songs, the EP closes with a sassy pop song tinged with some pop-culture and rock references.
While it is hard to tell if they will rise to any level of popularity in their own country, it is certainly nice to hear independent music coming from a place where musicians seem so bent on making the cover of NME and being the next band the tabloids follow endlessly.
-Matthew Ralph 03.18.01

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Collective-zine (UK/USA), March 2001

Now this, this is nice. I've haplessly lost all that promo bumf that comes with CD's every now and again, so I can't tell you much about them, except they are from England and come from Cambridge. I think. And musically it's some rather nice, cosy, indie, erm, dark-pop (or something). Which goes slow. And spacey. And swirly. 'Inclined to Fall' kicks things off with some sad ole piano and some pretty wimpy indie vocals, but it fits very nicely. I'm thinking that if the vocals were more whispery and less prominent in the mix, I could be making some vague comparisons to the mighty Kepler. Meanwhile, in the background, spacey guitars swoop and swirl around, eventually powering their way towards the front, giving it more of a Blue Ontario type feel. Warm, but sort of sad at the same time. Very British. Heh.
Following that is title track, 'Great Disappointment of the Year', which is a little more subdued. Bass rolls a long subtly, and the music is very lethargic, and simple. Takes 4 minutes for anything remotely noisy to happen, when they just suddenly up the volume and sway a litte more. 3rd-ly we have 'You Buried Your Face' which has a lovely moody intro, before the chunky bass sound joins the fray, a long with what sounds like programmed drum beats? Could be wrong! Anyway, this has a touch of Sigur Ros feel here. A far poppier and less icy Sigur Ros, mind you. It all builds up nicely to a more rocking finale.
Alas, 'The Boy Who Held His Breath Too Long' (cool title) just doesn't fit with the rest of the music on here at all. I was quite surprised the first time I heard it. The overly upbeat introduction just caught me off guard, this is much more typical Britpop indie. It's far catchier, and would be the track that Steve Lamacq would play if he was sent this CD. I dunno, it's almost like the Lightning Seeds. Do you see? The backing vocals and the guitar solo are also silly. Sorry.
Yes, this is definitely nice (though I wasn't into track 4). It's wintery, so just catches the final snowflurries to fit the mood. Hurrah!
(andy malcolm)

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Almost Cool (USA), March 2001

Maybe it's just a coincidence that I've gotten EPs lately by UK groups that have mentioned Sigur Ros as a reference for their sound (the other being Saso's Warmed Up), but it also could simply be because the group set off something in people creating music as well as those writing about it and listening to it. I'll be the first to admit that it's not the worst thing in the world either, especially if we keep getting music like that created by Stars of Aviation.
Clocking in at just under 20 minutes, the Greatest Disappointment EP isn't exactly a long release, but it does show a ton of promise for the group. In addition to the aformentioned group, I'd say that the group also pulls in some sounds that remind one of Radiohead or the Delgados.
The first track "Inclined To Fall" is actually a good indication of the typical sound of the group. With a nice piano backdrop and some droning guitars and delicate percussion, the instrumentation provides a nice backdrop to the soft vocals. The track eventually builds very slightly, but never to a loud level, mainly working a nice subtle edge with things. That sort of atmospheric sound continues on the next track "Greatest Disappointment Of The Year" with a droning keyboard and a quiet guitar melody that slowly builds itself up around some more soft percussion.
If any track draws comparison to Sigur Ros, it would be the third track "You Buried Your Face," with falsetto vocals and some hi-hat percussion that sounds almost like a drum machine before building up with some jangling guitars. The final track is much different than the previous 3, as it takes on a pretty much straightforward British rock sound that recalls early Blur. It's a fun cap on the end of the album and doesn't throw things off too much considering how much different it is. Like a good EP is supposed to do, the 4 tracks intrigue enough that I'll keep an eye out for the group and I'd definitely recommend them if you like any of the above artists (although don't expect the dreamy atmospherics of Sigur Ros).

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5D (Slovakia), March 2001

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Concertandco (France), March 2001

Ils sont jeunes, de Cambridge et en plus ils adorent la France. Ils nous ont concocté un excellent album de 4 titres. Et bien non, on est pas du tout déçu, mais plutôt surpris. Cet album a été enregistré en 3 jours et la formation actuelle a seulement un an d'existence, c'est miraculeux. Pas du tout, puisqu'ils sont Anglais, ils ont ça dans la peau. Les textes reposent sur des états d'âme qui sont en parfaite harmonie avec les ambiances musicales. Leur musique s'apparente à une pop romantique et sensible avec une pointe de swing. Des thèmes souvent lancinants, mélancoliques qui s'illuminent par un dénouement et une apogée plutôt énergique, surtout sur les trois premiers titres, "Inclined to fall", "Greastest disappointment of the year" et "You buried your face". Le 4ème titre "The boy who held his breath too long" est un hit, je peux vous l'assurer, il déménage...

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