Local Review: Starmy — Hallelujah Disappear

Starmy
Hallelujah Disappear
Mid Jet
Street: 05.19.2025
Starmy = Pixies + The Black Keys

Salt Lake City’s alternative rock band Starmy returns with Hallelujah Disappear, an 11-track album that captures the haunted beauty of late-night alt-rock. The record is just over 40 minutes filled with themes of hope, anger and fighting for good over evil. Listening to Hallelujah Disappear feels like driving down empty, rain-soaked roads past flickering neon motel signs, chasing down ghosts of lost loves and away from bad memories. From the first note to the last, Starmy’s album Hallelujah Disappear refuses to let go.

Starmy, who formed in 2001, is made up of lead vocalist/guitarist Michael Sartain, bassist John Lyman, guitarist Michael Sasich, keyboardist Sean McCarthy and drummer David Payne. They blend indie rock grit with power-pop hooks, reminiscent of The Black Keys and Interpol. Over 24 years, Starmy made themselves a cornerstone of Salt Lake City’s local music scene with energetic live shows, heartfelt lyrics and a sound that balances raw edge with melodic charm. Their latest record, Hallelujah Disappear, perfectly captures that description in a way that is charming, soulful and strong. The guitars are washed in reverb, with steady basslines and drums and keys that carry the songs with power and restraint. The lyrics speak of the devil, betrayal and fighting for what you believe in. It invokes images of rainclouds, driving through long, seemingly never-ending tree-lined roads, leather jackets and smokey dive bars. It’s music that makes you feel powerful, untouchable, ready to fistfight anyone, even demons.

Other than powerful tracks, we have songs that lean into tenderness, such as “Hold On Bright Spirit.” The track talks about grief and letting go of pain. It’s poetic and beautiful, clocking in as the longest song on the album at five minutes and 15 seconds. It’s cinematic and slow-paced, about holding on for the pain to end and letting healing take its place. Hallelujah Disappear thrives in its hypnotic atmosphere. It isn’t just about catchy choruses, fast-moving beats and songs to be forgotten quickly, but a record that also builds a world inside itself; a story, a statement of someone with a life exciting and heartbreaking all at one. It’s a moody, beautiful, edgy, but not overbearing record about a life full of adventures and never giving up, along with a slight supernatural charm in the background of it all.

For fans of bands like the Arctic Monkeys or the Pixes, Starmy’s latest is a must-hear. It’s the sound of a car driving at night under a clear sky full of stars, of laughter echoing in smokey dive bars, of whispered prayers in the very back of an empty church. Hallelujah Disappear will capture your attention and leave you thinking of it for weeks, soon to be a well-loved record in your music library. —Cherri Cheetah

Read more reviews from Cherri Cheetah:
Local Review: The Alpines — Dying Star
Local Review: Dwellers – Corrupt Translation Machine