Seattle Subsonic

Starfucker Has Me Thinking Dirty Thoughts About…Space

October 15th, 2008

I’m gonna lay it all out on the table, right here, right now (to borrow a line from Jesus Jones): I’m in love with the new Starfucker record. Yes, my overenthusiastic declaration is a bit forward, but that ease of intimacy is exactly what this debut offering from Portland’s wistful, sky-gazing electro jammers induces. A shade under 35 minutes, Starfucker is a gushing, explicitly exuberant approach to bounce-inducing, mind-wandering space pop. What’s more, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to appreciate the lack of gravity beheld in the band’s name possibly coined by Mick Jagger, definitely bastardized by Hollywood, and appropriately exploited by founding member (and drummer) Josh Hodges.

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Of all the bands that have been nominally associated with Oregon’s river city, Starfucker is one of the brightest novas to light up my ears. And that list is quite distinguished, really: the Shins, the Thermals, the Helio Sequence, Lifesavas, the Prids, Viva Voce, and Talkdemonic have all been given a considerable amount of my attention in recent years. As if in perfect concert, I can’t stop listening to this 11-song musical escapade. I listen to it at home, at work, in the car, in my headphones at the gym, its indisputable hooks stubbornly stuck in the right side of my brain.

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Influences and parallels abound on this record, but given their respective credence, it’s more compliment than detriment. Starfucker is Air without the vintage elegance, the Flaming Lips without the eccentric bombast, Chromeo without the east coast cheeze, and it’s the Shins with an electro-dance upgrade. Portland brethren Menomena and YACHT are presumably just as excited about this output as I am—and who wouldn’t be? When you have a mind-melding set of bubbly tracks that percolate and assimilate into one blurry, dream-like experience, someone’s bound to be on cloud nine, right?

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I like listening to this album from beginning to end, complete with sparse, layered lyrics, obsessive handclaps, and obscure aural clues to trigger that elusive space-gaze, but there are at least three standout tracks that were tailor-made for the iPod shuffle. As if holding a flagstaff for the group’s sugared sketch, “German Love” is a rush to the heart of repetitive bliss, sharp and lively keys, and a promise to “give it to you”. I’ll let your imagination work on that one. “Pop Song”, featured along with the band so prominently on that circulating MTV video outlining Portland’s music renaissance, is the LP’s showpiece. Ray-gun synths slice through a bouncy bass line, while the goose-bumping chorus soars in to save the day like a superhero. You can’t not feel good after hearing this song.

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The final track is the prettiest, and the most thoughtful. “Isabella of Castile”, named for a 15th century Spanish queen, is wrought with shimmering, laser-like vistas that thrust the listener into a futuristic, utopian world. A propulsive rhythm guitar, delivered by Ryan Biornstad, offsets Shawn Glassford’s slightly funky bass line while bleeps, blips, and glitches fly around like distracted digital hummingbirds.

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So yes, Starfucker—with a penchant for the poppy and astronauts adorning the album’s cover art—has me transfixed on their music; and outer space. I do love science fiction, after all.

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Don’t forget to check out a nice video collection of the band from Discover.Portland.Music, as well as the tracks below. They’ll be in Seattle November 1st at the Vera Project.

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Starfucker - “Pop Song“

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Starfucker - “Isabella of Castile“

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Starfucker - “German Love“