Rating: 
For around five years now, Gringo Star has been bringing you buzzing, guitar driven rock music. If you have yet to discover this band’s jamming style, then Count Yer Lucky Stars is an excellent place to dive right in. If you’ve already relished in this band’s ability to make you air guitar and sing right alongside the gravelly vocals, then Count Yer Lucky Stars will be a lovely edition to your listening catalog.
The first song on this album is, “Shadow,” which kicks in with some choral yells in the background and some cutting guitars riding on top. The vocals step in, distorted at some points, yet still the familiar grit and sting that makes the overall sound so buzzy. Meanwhile, the steady force behind this song comes from the drums, ever knocking away. Upon first listen, you may be a bit underwhelmed, as this band doesn’t have a super unique and distinctive sound, but after a few repeats, it’s a solid start to the album. Next up is a simple jam band anthem on “You Want It,” complete with gang oohs and aahs, along with some drum builds into the chorus. This songs simplicity contrasts with the first song and lightens things up a little for the listener.
Sixth up on Count Yer Lucky Stars is “Come Alive,” whose chorus makes you smitten with this group. The stark guitar part aches for air guitar mimics and the simple vocals are easy to join in, and soon you’re with Gringo Star in their jamming. On the very next song, “Esmarelda,” the band takes a sultry, and borderline sinister flair with the song; you still have the same buzzing guitars and the raw tones that are the cruxes of this bands sound, but they show that they are not afraid to step beyond the norm. This band does a grand job at delving into all aspects of their genre and this allows for the songs to avoid redundancy.
However much merit this album has to offer to you depends most heavily on the amount of time you spend with it. If you are one of those people that is a firm believer in judging an album based on the first track, then stop being one of those people and give this album a few listens all the way through. You will find that there are some morsels of goodness that Gringo Star has waiting for you inside this fall release.
We covered a whole lot of ground last week, as there’s always tons of music spilling out into the world. I was really high upon the new track from Daisies, which is why its leading our playlist. There were also tons of ATH regulars like the Reds Pinks and Purples, Lachlan Denton, Jana Horn, Dippers and the High Water Marks. Plus, with SXSW on the horizon, we did tons of little meet and greet posts with the bands: Blondeshell, Meernaa, Foamboy and more. So find a song you love, and go check out what we hit up last week!
While I feel I moved on a bit from that soulful garage sound that I fawned over in the early ATH years, I’m still a sucker for the sound when its done well…and no one’s done it quite as well as 
