Costar have a mixed, and rather curious, background. Part-English, part-Norwegian, they discovered their lead guitarist during a lock-in at their local pub, while their drummer used to be in Pulp-era Britpop also-rans Rialto. If these curious roots have you hoping for an experimental mish-mash of The Wannadies, Oasis and Jarvis Cocker, then you’d better think again
. Most of what Costar produce is by-the-book indie rock, the kind of jangling guitar pop that we’re more used to hearing from across the Atlantic. While the likes of Fountains Of Wayne and The Killers have powerful pop melodies to pull them through, however, Costar have a tendency to rest upon their rather obvious laurels, and all too often they fail to shine.
Single ‘This Awakening’ offers some suitable sentiments for the start of the album, although Brighton’s vocals sometimes struggle to reach the necessary heights, but from here onwards it’s all pitched at a fairly similar tone, somewhere between Orson’s rock-lite and The Enemy’s Oasis-laden lad-pop. The bouncing rhythms of ‘All In Your Head’ alleviate some of the monotony, even if it’s not as quirky or breakneck-paced as Good Shoes’ single of the same name, but there’s really little in here to make you sit up and pay attention. Exit isn’t actually bad, but for all their diverse influences Costar end up sounding like a pub band with a few extra tunes and some half-decent production. Good for a beery Saturday night, mind you.