Blinker The Star

Thirteen years after Blinker the Star released their career-defining (well, in the alt-rock world) hit, "Below the Sliding Doors," Jordon Zadorozny has resurfaced older, wiser and a bit wealthier (thanks to co-writer royalties from Hole, Sam Roberts and Mandy Moore). On We Draw Lines, the follow-up to 2003's largely uninspired Still in Rome, the Pembroke, ON songwriter (and brains behind BtS) keeps the collaborations rolling, enlisting Medicine's Brad Laner, along with former musical colleagues Sofia Silva and Gilden Tunador, to help write the bulk of LP number five. But the results suggest that Zadorozny, no matter the personnel or passage of time, is stuck in the vortex known as "the late '90s." Tracks like "Subtle Days" and "Burn Away" are content recycling his patented shoegaze-light power chords and anthemic hooks. We Draw Lines sounds quintessentially like Blinker the Star, but it could have used a bit more Jordon Zadorozny.