Star Card is the songwriting brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Calley Nelson of Receive (whose leader, Brendan Landis, is on drums here, joined by bassist Jackson Tarricone and guitarist Jake Whitener) . A regular on the Bushwick/Ridgewood noise/“ripper” scene, Nelson’s on the more melodic end of its spectrum, but there’s plenty of muscle and grit here in her dirty guitar riffs and sometimes intense vocals.
If I knew nothing about this band, I’d guess it was a ’90s indie group. At no point does it ever sound imitative, but at times I hear echoes of Liz Phair, Nirvana, Blake Babies, and (when her voice is quieter and the guitars shoegazey) Nightblooms—but always more raw, more nakedly expressive, more in-your-face in the best way: yes, noisy. (I made sure to not read anything about Nelson’s influences before citing those four bands; those are what my ears hear, period; don’t blame her).
The same could be said of the lyrics, even on the (Eno-referencingly titled) “Oblique Strategies,” where the only words are “Everything I do, I do it for you” repeated like a plea or perhaps an incantation (this is one of the tracks that reminds me of the underrated Nightblooms). Best title of all is “Even the Sun Can Hurt You.” “Keep on Rocking in the Freak World” manages to be a funny song about a contemplated suicide that turns into an emotional paean to meaning found in community.
I have listened to Trash World obsessively for the past six weeks, so it stands up to repeated listening. I loved Star Card’s 2023 debut, the lo-fi Freak World (issued in conjunction with their appearance at the Bushwick festival of the same name); two songs (“Project the Pabst”; “We’re on the Same Page Now”) are on both releases, but as charming as the greater intimacy of the earlier takes is, Trash World is a great leap forward and one of my favorite 2025 rock albums—certainly the most cathartic.
Star Card will be playing at Gold Sounds in Brooklyn, NY on Wednesday, January 14 (album release show), at Silver Stream in Montclair, NJ on Saturday, January 17, at The Undercroft in Baltimore, MD on 1/18, and Upstairs at Abyssinia in Philadelphia, PA on 1/19.
