Texas Platters

Comet

Feathers From the Wing EP (Spune)

Their hiatus wasn't quite as long as the locals in Halley, but it's good to have Dallas' Comet return. One of the shining beacons of the mid-Nineties Texas scene, they disappeared just as dandy 1996 full-length Chandelier Musings gained steam, thereby relegating the missing link between Bedhead and vintage Flaming Lips to dusty secondhand bins. Lead brothers Jim and Neil Stone drone assertively on their comeback, upbeat opener drenched in whispery vocals reminding wake 'n' bakers everywhere: "It's OK, sleep all day, miss the world." Then comes Comet's true forte: starry-eyed, slowcore webs of patiently brushed cymbals and madly reverberated guitar. At their best, on "Sputnik," the Stones' slow-burning waves of woozy wombadelia creep up and double over into melodic explosions of bombast and beauty. At their worst (the final two tracks), the songs never go anywhere, content to linger behind dominant piano lines. Yet as a whole, Feathers From the Wing gently dazzles and inspires all wannabe shoegazers within earshot, keeping beauty and restraint in the same pocket as those kickass space-rock pedals. Maybe the experts have been wrong all along: In space, they can hear your heart break.