Music Review
'THINGS HOPED FOR:' MANY MORE ALBUMS

Space-rock quartet Brave Saint Saturn scored a lunar grand slam with the recent release of "The Light of Things Hoped For," their sophomore album and debut on Tooth and Nail Records after Five Minute Walk Records folded last year. The band formed in 2001 as a side project of ska pioneers Five Iron Frenzy, featuring the talents of lyricist and vocalist Reese Roper and FIF bandmates Dennis Culp, Keith Hoerig and Andrew Verdecchio.

"...Things Hoped For" blasts listeners with crunching guitar riffs and anthemic choruses from the start, with the upbeat "The Sun Also Rises," and the sentimental rock ballad "Binary." (Sample lyric: Binary star/You're the brightest blue by far/And up against this starry sea/I thought that you were meant for me.) Roper's potent tremolo dips and surges with emotion, far outstripping anything ever heard on American Idol. Rhythym and melody mingle freely in this tightly-wound sci-fi spoof, putting mainstream sellout arena rock to shame.

Roper's writing genius shines through on "I Fell Away," a less-than-memorable ballad without a definite chorus, because despite the song's musical shortcomings, the lyrics read as a fine redemption poem, forceful in their desperation and bittersweet in their restatement of faith.

The album wears thin around the eighth track, where Brave Saint Saturn's pile-driving sound gets bogged down in heavy, sentiment-laden tribute songs (two is more than enough for one album) dripping with hollow platitudes but pulling off a sobering effect on listeners. The only other complaint to be made is the overuse of narrations listed as separate tracks, there are four such interludes and 11 songs on the disc, but if brevity is your only fault, you don't have much to worry about.

BS2's new disc is worthy of a four star rating out of a possible five stars for overall quality and originality. Newly-won fans will have to hope this promising group sticks around a few more years, however. Five Iron Frenzy called it quits this year after releasing "Cheeses of Nazareth," a remix and B-sides album, and there are murmurs that Brave Saint will follow suit. "The light of all things hoped for" would be a long and prosperous musical career for the four soulful space cadets of Brave Saint Saturn.