The Star Crumbles came to be rather serendipitously last year when singer-songwriter Brian Lambert, who’s based in Denton, Texas, reached out to singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Marc Schuster, who lives in suburban Philadelphia, for some help with his song “Kids”. The two originally met on Twitter, but had never previously worked together on a music project. Well, they immediately hit it off, so much so that they decided to collaborate together on more music projects, eventually leading to their creation of a new music act they dubbed The Star Crumbles. Last fall, they released their marvelous debut album The Ghost of Dancing Slow (which I reviewed). One of my favorite tracks from that album, “Shadows in the Dark”, has spent 15 weeks and counting on my Top 30 chart, and at long last ascends to the top spot. The darkly beautiful song has a strong retro 80s vibe that borders on darkwave, with moody synths and brilliant guitar work, highlighted by a scorching little guitar solo and Brian’s fervent vocals, which have never sounded better. The cool video, created by Marc, features pixelated renditions of the band trapped in an eight-bit Atari nightmare.

In other chart highlights, the beautiful “Backpatters and Shooters” by astonishingly talented British four-piece The Zangwills enters the top 10. Two equally gorgeous songs make big upward moves: “Just Before the Morning” by L.A.-based indie alt-rock band Local Natives climbs six spots to #19, and “Transmitter” by British band Sea Power leaps eight spots to #21. The lone debut this week is “Pepper”, a great new single by veteran alternative pop-rock band Death Cab for Cutie, who never disappoint.

1. SHADOWS IN THE DARK – The Star Crumbles (2)
2. THIS IS WHY – Paramore (1)
3. ANTI-HERO – Taylor Swift (3)
4. TONIGHT – Phoenix featuring Ezra Koenig (4)
5. TROUBLE WITH THIS BED – Beach Weather (6)
6. NIGHT BUS – Caitlin Lavagna (8)
7. SAIL AWAY – lovelytheband (7)
8. THE LONELIEST – Måneskin (9)
9. DANCE FOR ME – Sam Rappaport (10)
10. BACKPATTERS AND SHOOTERS – The Zangwills (12)
11. I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU – The 1975 (5)
12. DISORDER – Columbia (13)
13. WILD AS THE WIND – HULLAH (15)
14. MAYFLY – Callum Pitt (16)
15. PAGES – White Reaper (17)
16. KILL BILL – SZA (18)
17. OUT OF MY SYSTEM – Louis Tomlinson (11)
18. STICK SEASON – Noah Kahan (22)
19. JUST BEFORE THE MORNING – Local Natives (25)
20. OFFCUTS – Mount Famine (14)
21. TRANSMITTER – Sea Power (29)
22. LUX ÆTERNA – Metallica (23)
23. EVERYTHING I OWN – Dom Thomas (24)
24. SLEEPWALKING – All Time Low (27)
25. LOVE DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE – Crystal Cities (19)
26. THEN IT ALL GOES AWAY – Dayglow (20)
27. YOU GOTTA DO WHAT YOU GOTTA DO – Darksoft (30)
28. WHITE HORSES – Art Block (21) 19th week on chart
29. SNAP – Rosa Linn (26)
30. PEPPER – Death Cab for Cutie (N)