"Stars Like Fleas juggle the disturbing, confrontational, direct, sincere, romantic, and the blatantly contrived, in quasi-improvised song cycles".
Begun in the early aughts as a recording project, Stars Like Fleas gained worldwide attention with the small handful of people who cared in each country they invaded. They sold literally tens of records (and were traded for free everywhere fine records were traded). Fortunately many of those listeners happened to be tastemakers, bands, and other people who do things -- soon Pitchfork, Salon, Stylus, Paper Magazine, Time Out, the Village Voice, and others were propping them up on 'best of' lists and praising the bands unreleased releases.
A couple of years ago Stars Like Fleas began playing shows in unmarked spaces in Brooklyn, lighting a fire overnight, with many FAMOUS! and IMPORTANT! people coming to their shows and leaving frustrated, pissed off, or strangely moved and uplifted (in all cases inviting the Fleas to perform). Even though Stars Like Fleas reconfigure their lineup, sound and music for almost every room they play (sometimes absurdly loud, sometimes entirely unamplified, performing amongst the audience, sometimes abstract, sometimes pop, sometimes sticking w/ sentimental drivel).
Stars Like Fleas were invited to play shows with Deerhoof, Dirty Projectors, Excepter, Grizzly Bear, Beirut, Kyp Malone (TV On The Radio), Phosphorescent, Akron/Family; at concert halls, in illegal dingy spaces, at camping trips upstate, at festivals, in galleries. Stopping by CMJ in an unofficial capacity, they were named both the BEST (Pop Matters) and the WORST (Idolator) show of the festival.
Choosing not to capitalize on their hard-earned buzz, Stars Like Fleas went back below deck in 2006 and spent a year making a record (called "THE KEN BURNS EFFECT", a title they think is funny but nobody else does) with Nicolas Vernhes (Animal Collective, Fiery Furnaces, Cat Power, Black Dice, Oneida) and at Brooklyn's Seaside Lounge (The Occasion, Psychic Ills, The Double, New Pornographers); the Fleas were invited to Iceland by Bjork/Mum/Sigur Ros-producer Valgeir Sigurddson to mix their record. They mixed with sound artist Ben Frost, mastered with Valgeir. They came to an understanding with glaciers.
First releasing in non-English speaking European countries late in 2007, their record ended up on many, many French/German/Italian/Spanish year-end "best of" lists. They are currently releasing a split 7" in the UK with Tunng and contributing a track to an upcoming Asthmatic Kitty compilation. People are talking again.
