As much as the discography of the Canadian indie-rock band Stars is enjoyable, the frustration with Stars is similar to the frustration with Jefferson Airplane.

One hears those fabulous, Grace Slick-led songs from the band’s seminal second album “Surrealistic Pillow” and hopes for more like it. Slick croons and screams through “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit,” but the rest of that album sounds more like typical ‘60s folk than those songs that set Jefferson Airplane apart so much.

The same goes for Stars. Do not get me wrong — lead singer Torquil Campbell has a soft elegance in his singing, and one cannot say his voice is drab or typical 2000s indie rock. It’s just not nearly as enchanting as Stars’ other lead vocalist, Amy Millan.

This is why Stars’ best songs are the duets with both Campbell and Millan (like the song “Elevator Love Letter” from 2003’s “Heart” or “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” from 2005’s “Set Yourself on Fire”). The only complaint about Stars ever — outside of somewhat melodramatic lyrics — is the fact that Millan does not get enough opportunities to stretch her vocal chords.

In Stars’ last album, 2007’s “In Our Bedroom After the War,” Millan did not sound quite herself, more like a decent Macy Gray imitation. After hearing Stars’ latest release, “The Five Ghosts,” which came out in late June, one might think Millan used this hit-and-miss performance to inspire her best effort to date.

With “The Five Ghosts,” Millan moves more from sometimes-lead singer to being a full-fledged lead singer in the band. The album is filled with duets, usually with Campbell singing the verses and Millan taking care of the chorus, chalk full of all those catchy hooks. Then there’s the songs where Millan solely handles the singing, which stand out as the best of the album.

Even though “Fixed,” which is arguably this album’s “Ageless Beauty” — an electropop thunderstorm with Millan straining to be heard over the synth — was the one touted like the first single, with free downloads galore, the pop song that stands out on first listening is “We Don’t Want Your Body.” Campbell is strangely almost rapping through the verses about a relationship that subsists almost entirely of sex. He talks trash about his loved one, saying “you flash your trash to turn me on” and “your hunger starts to turn me off.” All of this energy is punctuated by a high-pitched chorus from Millan that really drives home the tune.

Stars’ new album is not entirely full of winners. One thing that the band has always achieved is an opener that really feels like a first song. The cheesy introduction at the beginning of “What the Snowman Learned About Love,” the building, emotional duet of “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead,” and the instrumental sampling of “The Beginning After the End” all served as exceptional first chapters, if not always songs that required further listening (in the case of “Snowman” and “The Beginning After the End.”)

The same can ultimately be said for “Dead Hearts,” this album’s opener. The slow, swaying song does not excite the senses like the rest of the album. The lyrics are mired in some of Stars’ notorious melodrama. (The chorus repeats, “Dead hearts are everywhere. Dead hearts are everywhere.”) One forgets “Dead Hearts” quickly after hearing the rest of the album, but it serves its purpose.

Also there’s “I Died So I Could Haunt You,” which, at the third-track position, seems like it’s marketed as one of the “big” songs of the album. And the song has those rocking verses (ala “Take Me to the Riot”), but there’s simply no payoff. The chorus is oddly slower than the rest of the song.

But “The Five Ghosts” stands out as Stars’ best effort since “Heart” because of tracks that go where Stars has never gone before. Millan has never stretched her lungs to quite the depths that she does in “How Much More.” With lyrics both heartfelt and universal, Millan aches, “How much more am I supposed to take?”

But what makes “The Five Ghosts” so good is not simply up-tempo beats. “Changes” and “Wasted Daylight” offer the more-laidback efforts of the album, and they are as repeatable as the rest of the album. In particular, “Wasted Daylight” has a Millan chorus that evokes the feelings of new beginnings, as she asserts that she doesn’t mind this wasted, shaded daylight.

Stars is decidedly indie pop and not necessarily for everyone. It has dance/electronic influences, but it’s not as aggressive and hook-y as Lady Gaga, ke$ha or Beyonce. It’s somewhere in the middle, between Morrissey-like lyrics and catchy, mainstream choruses. And when listening to one of their albums, just like with Morrissey or The Smiths, one knows what they are getting into.

It’s usually something that requires multiple listens and could easily become the soundtrack of your summer.