February 21, 2013

Starfucker - "Last Words " / "Beach Monster"

Portland's Starfucker have been one of the more quietly consistent acts of the aughts, from their dreamy loop-sprinkled 2008 debut to the playful dance-centered Jupiter EP and 2011's existential Reptilians with its musings on life and death courtesy of interspersed clips from Eastern philosopher Alan Watts. Discussion of the band is often unfortunately framed by Starfucker's likeness to synth-pop oriented peers MGMT and Passion Pit. But outside of a few shallow similarities, Joshua Hodges' longtime project has little in common with those buzz bands nor the massive appeal-driven melodies of songs like "Kids" and "Carried Away." Despite the presence of the occasional booming synth riff, Starfucker's songs are really of a more introspective ilk, content to linger in surprisingly sparse and meditative combinations of hushed vocals, snappy rhythms, and splashes and loops of guitar. More along the career path of a Flaming Lips or Johnny Jewel, Starfucker seem happy to pave their own distinctive and idiosyncratic way without much interference from the outside world. Below, peep two favorites from the band's newest record, Miracle Mile, out on Polyvinyl Records.

Buy the record from Polyvinyl.



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