Starlight Mints have done their homework. The huge ranges of influences rightfully show themselves proudly. The Beatles and The Beach Boys. The Sex Pistols and the Kinks. The Pixies and Beat Happening. Built to Spill and Pavement. Pop’s been building quite a history and Starlight Mints are sampling all the goods.

But it’s not just borrowing and recycling. The band’s got its own thing going. According to the press materials, "Guitarist/vocalist and principal songwriter, Allan Vest contends that his surrealist songs are borne of a need to 'find the melody with the odd note.'" Give the man his prize cause he ’s damn near perfected just that on Starlight Mints’ first record. You’re singing along and you’re feeling fun, but you’re hearing some of the most dissonant sounds waving the perfect pop flag.

In the middle of the first song I’m already excited: I’ve found my new favorite pop band! The songs are quirky. People are whistling. Background cheers weave into choruses. Sometimes you’re at a wild and stoned carnival. Other times you’re walking a tightrope in space. Attention: Starlight Mints sound weird! On paper, the band’s your basic set-up with guitars, drums and keyboards. On the record, the basics are accompanied by all sorts of accompaniment. Sometimes cellos, sometimes violins, sometimes horns, sometimes harps, sometimes...sometimes...sometimes. It's probably all done with keyboards, but done with keyboards perfectly.

But The Dream That Stuff Was Made Of isn’t just the fun instruments. It’s the songs themselves that make a pop album great. As far as sonics, tempos and structures are concerned, this record’s all over the place. Sloppy in the best way (think drunken New Orleans street parade) one minute. Confidently crisp, tight and snappy the next. It’s a varied mix with blaring MOD-like guitar marches, twanging whammy-bar bends, pogo-style-bubble-gum-chewing-feel-good riffs and a touch of the psychedelic (more so in the vocal melodies and lyrics than in the music). This record will take you by pleasant surprise!