The Light of Things Hoped For

In the ever-evolving world of music it seems that new genres are born every day, ranging from the accessible to the hipster. Now, from members of Five Iron Frenzy comes the launch of a new project, Brave Saint Saturn, and with it a whole new genre of music. Welcome fo the final frontier: astro-rock. “Astro-rock” and its twin sister “space-pop” are foreign terms which aptly describe this album’s harmonious collision of Roper (vocals, lyrics and electric guitar), Culp (electric and acoustic guitars, bass, vocals) and Hoerig (bass). This central core is heavily augmented by programming, percussion, keyboards, accordion, strings and turntables. Produced by Masaki, Brave Saint Saturn takes a huge stylistic departure from the poppy ska-punk of Five Iron Frenzy. Created by Roper in 1995, Brave Saint Saturn was initially a platform for Roper to express his thoughts on topics traditionally considered dark and emotional. “Lyrically this is definitely the dark side of Five Iron Frenzy,” explains Roper. “It is a lot of songs about struggling with the world and tragedy.” However, although initially the themes may be dark, ultimately hope is the underlying theme of this record.