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Fairytale: Shooting Star 12” (Toxic State Records) Here at Sorry State we were huge fans of Fairytale’s previous EP on Desolate Records, and the New York City d-beat band builds on that record’s strengths with Shooting Star, creating something even more distinctive, powerful, and exciting. I can’t believe how much room Fairytale finds for innovation in their sound without compromising the ferocity and brutality. If you merely appreciate Fairytale on that level, there’s plenty to love, and they’re certainly in the same league with flat-out ragers of recent vintage like Salvaje Punk, Destruct, and Electric Chair. However, there’s so much more happening than raw intensity, as Shooting Star is filled with unique and innovative touches at nearly every level. The first time I listened to the record, the unexpectedly melodic chorus of “Possible to Grow” was the standout moment, and playing this record into the ground for the past few weeks hasn’t dulled my enthusiasm for it one bit. However, there are subtler moments that are just exciting, though they take a little more close listening to extract from the din. “Life Plateau,” the first mid-paced song on the record, might seem like a standard homage to “A Look at Tomorrow” on the surface, but the manic drumbeat with an unexpected hi-hat pattern gives the song a uniquely suffocating level of tension. “Fairytale” is another standout, borrowing the hypnotic quality of Disclose’s “Wardead,” but rather than riding the “psychedelic d-beat” wave in any kind of expected way, the outro hangs on the song’s main riff for what seems like ages. Eventually a solo emerges, but just as it starts to pick up steam, the rhythm section drops out while the guitarist continues to noodle away, ending the record’s first side in an evocative moment of deflation. Even when Fairytale is in straightforward bashing mode, Lulu’s unique vocal cadences provide compelling rhythmic counterpoints, and moments like chorus to “Bluer Skies” and the snotty verses in “Wrap It Up and Buy It” prove the infectious chorus in “Possible to Grow” is no fluke. Fusing subtlety and brutality is no easy feat, but Shooting Star pulls it off ably, resulting a record that will peel your hair back on the first listen, but continue to reveal something new with every subsequent spin.