The core sound of Jason Martin's band seems to shift from album to album, and sometimes from song to song within an album, without losing a consistent identity. Is it lo-fi indie rock, alternative rock with a shoegaze vibe, dream pop, or shoegaze with an indie twist? Wikipedia can fill in the biographical details if you're interested. Otherwise, check out the youtube playlists below by clicking on the album covers.
Silver
This first album shows the heaviest shoegaze influences with all the characteristic distortion, subdued vocals, and wall-of-sound effect.
Gold
Again, heavy shoegaze sound, but with a darker tone to the obscure lyrics, and the music video released for the title track is weird.
Americana
Instead of just getting the album color as a title (Maroon?), we get an actual name! This album also begins to shift toward a cleaner alternative rock sound. Lyrics are still minimal, and the wall of sound is very present.
The Fashion Focus
And then, out of left field, there's this. No monochromatic cover, no stereotypical shoegaze dominating the mix, and a lot more keyboards. This is a sudden shift to indie pop/rock. Not that it's a bad thing.
Everybody Makes Mistakes
Following the trend of The Fashion Focus, this album has a pop/rock vibe with a softer overall sound. The track "No More Shows" has a vocal effect reminiscent of the earlier shoegaze albums, and there are other audio cues throughout that maintain a cohesion with the overall SF59 sound that runs through the entire discography. And we have a cover that is mostly a solid color again.
Leave Here A Stranger
The Los Angeles Times ranked this album among the top 10 for 2001. It is by far the most "pop" and least "rock" of SF59's work.
Old
A return to rock with a rollicking guitar-driven sound.
I Am The Portuguese Blues
Monochromatic covers are back! This is another rock album with some solid guitar driving the music. According to wikipedia, this album draws on unfinished work that was written to follow Americana before the band decided to shift its sound toward what became The Fashion Focus.
Personal note: This was the first SF59 album I purchased, so I can't claim to be one of the people who has been a fan since Silver.
Talking Voice vs. Singing Voice
Time for another shift in sound, this time to synthesizers and strings in a laid-back indie pop direction.
My Island
This 2006 release seems to draw from the past albums, recombining the various preexisting elements in new ways.
Dial M
A continuation and evolution of the sounds from My Island.
Personal note: This album will always sound a bit strange to me, because I first listened to Ghosts of the Past with its alternate takes and mixes of most of these songs.
The Changing of the Guard
Solid alternative rock. Introspective lyrics influenced by personal loss.
IAMACEO
Funded on Kickstarter and recorded at an outside studio instead of Tooth & Nail, this independent album is superb.
Slow
This newest album has been reviewed by NPR and is available on Freegal if your local library subscribes to that service. There are only 8 tracks, but the musical diversity is a sort of career retrospective.
Summary
There's probably something here that suits your taste, and whatever your taste may be, you may find yourself drawn to the full catalogue. However you try to define the changing sounds over the years, Starflyer 59 is worth a listen.
All album images from their respective Wikipedia pages. If you like a band, support them where you can!
2026 update: I haven't been following this band as closely since I originally wrote this post, but many more albums have been recorded during the intervening decade. Young in My Head (2019) is the last album I recall hearing. Miami (EP, 2020), Vanity (2021), Lust for Gold (2024), Déjame Dormir (instrumental lullaby remixes of old songs, 2025), and Disappointed (punk rock EP, 2026) all sound new to me. I have some listening ahead of me if I want to catch up. I should also note the original list didn't include every EP.
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