• 
• 

When you think about the coastal southeast, many will think of beaches, vacations, and trips in the sunshine. Summery times that are light, airy, and pleasant. However, for those who live in it, there is a consistent undercurrent of impenetrable light. Of oppressive and overwhelming heat, aggressively shining lights into every aspect of our beings in order to show our barest selves to the world. Enter ART STAR, a quintet from Charleston, SC blooming from the cross-pollination of technical, jagged screamo and experimental, hypnotic noise rock.

Since their inception in 2018, the band has transformed themselves multiple times. From the charming post-punk lean of their first EP, ‘Akin to Sin’, to the brooding sass of their second EP, ‘In Three Parts’, they’ve been building an incredible breadth of style.
Now, over the course of their third release, ‘Big Mouth Singers’ - their first through The Ghost Is Clear - you find a strange beauty in their music that is utterly possessing. At times standoffish and brash, and others intimate and haunting, they have reached a new height of their game. They have grown to master the art of tension, release, and measured approach to punishing rhythm.

Named after a broken toy piano holding the heart of the release, ‘Big Mouth Singers’ has a ringing that ties every different direction together into a massive, dynamic whole. Theatric vocals, cyclical rhythm, a gifted sense of melody, and a myriad of textures round out this powerhouse of a release. All of the things that make it so unique and powerful can clearly be seen on lead single “To Be Seen” - a crushing examination of the loneliness of life through a digital surveillance lens. From your neighborhood diy basement venue to concert theatre, phone speakers to hi-fi system, ART STAR possess a magnetism that demands the attention of everyone nearby and rewards you in a different way with every listen.

Recorded, mixed and Mastered by Kris Hilbert.
Cassette version on MiddleMan Records

Pressing Information

250 Eco-Mix LPs
split between label and band
with Bandcamp download
sent with physical purchases.