The 2002 EP Somewhere Across Forever introduced stellastarr*'s bright, shiny fusion of '80s new wave and early-'90s alternative rock with two of the songs that eventually ended up on their self-titled debut album, the title track and No Weather. Somewhere Across Forever remains one of the band's best songs, a sprawl of crunchy, Pixies-esque guitars, coy backing vocals, and the acrobatic singing of frontman Shawn Christensen. Though it doesn't have quite the punch of the later single Jenny, Somewhere Across Forever is still one of the band's most distinctive tracks, a fusion of their influences (the Cure, Pixies, and Talking Heads most prominently) that manages to transcend them. Christensen's voice -- which ping pongs between a paranoid yelp and a crooning baritone -- is an acquired taste that alternates between endearing and annoying, particularly on No Weather, a bouncy number propelled by Amanda Tannen's "ba ba ba"s and basslines. The real find on Somewhere Across Forever might be School Ya, a slow-building, bittersweet anthem so good that its absence from stellastarr* is a mystery. Perhaps the band felt they had too many previously released tracks on the album and wanted to showcase new material, or perhaps it didn't fit in with their vision of the album, but either way it's one of stellastarr*'s strongest songs. Arguably more focused and fully formed than their debut, Somewhere Across Forever is a compact and mostly winning statement of intent. ~ Heather Phares, Rovi