Chase The Kangaroo

A walk down memory lane was the inevitable response when giving Lust For Gold a listen. By way of steady beats and haunting reverb, you find yourself traveling with Starflyer 59 into the echoing past, theirs and your own. As you listen to Jason Martin sing about brief memories and moments from years back, you find yourself being swept along for the ride of your own. Perhaps because I’m roughly the same age as Jason, I found myself thinking about my own experiences around the same time frame. 

Lust For Gold is Starflyer 59’s seventeenth LP. I believe their second album, Gold, was recorded in 1995. 

If you aren’t familiar with Starflyer 59, they started out in Southern California. When you hear people talk about their style or genre, they get labeled shoegaze. Though over the years, they’ve shown they are much broader. But there are musical elements they never venture too far from. 

They have a big sound, simple hooks and driving rhythms. Whether the guitars have fuzz, distortion, clean tones or all three, you can count on a heavy dose of big, hollow reverb somewhere in the mix. The kind of reverb that makes you think of the ocean or even the desert. Somehow, the tonal vibe of the reverb is a cross between old California surf rock and spaghetti westerns, all being played through a Fender Jazzmaster.

I know, you are thinking how is he linking surf rock tones to the tones associated with spaghetti westerns? I’m glad you asked, and it does seem far-fetched at first glance. The broad link is the use of reverb in both styles. With that in mind look up the songs ”Shane“ and “Lose My Mind”. The way Jason blends that big hollow reverb with acoustic and electric guitars in the background, you’ll hear what I’m referring to on the album, The Changing of the Guard. The tone drips with reverb…haunting and distant.

We’ll talk more about tones and song structure later. Let’s talk about the songs themselves.

The first track on Lust For Gold is ”909”. Out of the gate, this song hits you with an ear hooking chord progression and then grabs you with simple hard-hit well, timed single notes that are dripping with the right amount of reverb and slight break up. As the last note into intro fades, you know this is going to be a great song.

“The best days of my life were in 909
My best times were 909”

Immediately, he points you to the past. “909” refers to the area code in Southern California that Jason first started his musical journey. Personally, I enjoyed Starflyer 59’s first couple of albums, but I wasn’t completely hooked yet. I probably should go back and give those first two albums a spin. I remember that they were strong albums in their own right, but I think I preferred it when Starflyer started turning down the fuzz a little and started exploring other tones and styles.

”909” is a standout that encapsulates much of what makes Starflyer 59 compelling in their later era…it’s deceptively simple but emotionally poignant. The tempo is relaxed and steady, giving it a reflective, almost hypnotic quality. The rhythm section is locked into a subtle groove…nothing flashy, just a solid foundation that allows the guitar textures and vocal melodies to take center stage.

The guitar work is a key feature: warm, slightly overdriven, and drenched in reverb, it evokes a vintage, analog feel. The tone is rich and melodic, leaning more toward texture than riffing. There’s a cyclical quality to the chords, which helps create a kind of emotional stasis—like you’re moving forward, but not quickly.

“909” is a great example of how Starflyer 59 can do a lot with very little. And as the opener, it sets the overall vibe for the rest of the album.

As songs progress, Jason Martin explores personal topics from his early struggles with ambition seeking gold, to the slow costly habit of smoking.  He takes us further back in time with ”YZ80”. This is where my own journey back took even more of a hold of me. With my first listen, I kept thinking, why does the term YZ80 sound so familiar? Then it dawned on me. My imagination became vivid with riding three-wheelers and motorcycles with new friends and later with my dad at our ranch. The feeling of being carefree while riding down trails and through pastures was Both exhilarating and peaceful. Nothing seemed dangerous. There was the thrill of racing down dirt roads or dusty trails. No fear of cars or people getting in your way. “YZ80” brought back the rush of those summers and the melancholy sadness that they are long gone. The wish that I could relive just a small moment from then. The wish that I could reminisce with my dad once more about those times.

After “YZ80” comes ”No Sweat”, followed by “1995”. With “1995”, I’m immediately transported right back into my own 1995.

”Cause I never felt more alive then I did in 1995
When the future felt open wide
Cause there was life there – young friends
Some are gone I’ll never see them again
But the future was open wide – open wide”

It’s a catchy, upbeat song, but mixed with that familiar nostalgia and melancholy. And I can’t help but think of my life during that time. I can’t say it was better as much as it was different. It is easy to look back and only remember what felt like freedom and possibilities. It is easy to wax poetic about those years and living in Austin, Texas then. I remember there were challenges and heartaches too. But the future did feel like it was open wide.”

Following the ride from “1995” and those adjacent years, Jason Martin brings you back to the present with, “Everyone Seems Strange”. This song shifts the mood from the hazy golden hour view of 1995 to a moody bewilderment for our present day American church.

“The Christians have gone their own separate ways
But it’s hard to find the ones who haven’t changed….
Cause everyone seems strange….
The Christians have found their own different ways
Oh God please help me find the ones that stayed
Cause everyone seems strange….”

Sadly, I’m familiar with what he is lamenting. The number of Christians who were once on fire for God has dwindled. Until recently, I talked the talk, but my heart was far from God. I can say that I’m stoking that fire and feeding that flame, but I see that some whom I looked to as brothers have drifted away. But thank God for His Grace and Mercy.

But let’s talk more about the album and the band ….

Tones are one of the most distinctive aspects of this album. As I mentioned above, the guitars are often drenched in reverb or chorus, but not overly so. The distortion, when used, is tasteful and fuzzy rather than aggressive. Synths and keys are present but usually sit subtly in the mix, adding atmosphere rather than taking the lead. The drums are dry and direct, anchoring the songs with a simplicity that lets the melodies and textures shine. Jason’s vocals, as always, are subdued—almost conversational—and this gives the album an intimate, introspective feel.

Musically, Lust For Gold sits somewhere between dream pop, post-punk, and soft shoegaze. It has a kind of golden-hour haze to it… there’s a warmth to the production, but there’s also that recurring sense of melancholy or possibly resignation. It’s not flashy or dramatic, but quietly affecting. The record often uses mid-tempo grooves, simple chord progressions, and subtle textural layering to evoke a feeling more than to impress with virtuosity.

Song structure across the album is notably economical. Starflyer 59 tends to favor straightforward, almost minimalist arrangements… usually verse-chorus structures with occasional bridges, but often eschewing dramatic dynamic shifts or extended instrumental passages. It’s music that avoids clutter, and that restraint becomes part of its appeal. The emotional impact doesn’t come from crescendoing explosions, but from repetition, mood, and tone.

Lust For Gold is reflective without being mopey, nostalgic without being derivative. A record for quiet drives, late nights, and long reflections.

I hope that you give it a listen. Share your thoughts on the album and/or the band. I want to hear where it takes you.