Major Stars: Return to Form

Label: Drag City

Good news for fans of the rock! There’s a new Major Stars record. Return to Form — a comical title unless read as a directive — is the Boston-area band’s eighth, and third since blasting their old quartet lineup into a sun-shattering sextet lineup with three arcanely artful guitarists. But for Wayne Rogers and Kate Village, the guitarist couple at the band’s core, Return to Form might be their 20th record together. That deep-rooted magic is imprinted in the band’s sound, a relentless and beautiful celebration of solar-flare psychedelia powered by two tons of heavy chrome: lightning-fork leads cresting on chords that press on and on and on and on. Of special note here is the first recorded appearance of singer Amanda Bristow (of the soon-to-be-known folk duo Baba Yaga), who’s been appearing onstage with the band for the past couple of years; she gets two songs, Sandra Barrett gets six, and everyone is happy. Highest possible recommendation for rock adventurists!