Popping up seemingly out of nowhere in the Portland indie scene, Starfucker made waves quickly and generated a big time buzz on the PDX Pop Now! circuit as an adventurous synth pop/indie rock trio with a memorable live set -- becoming the most talked about "it" trio in the city of roses since Menomena first hit the scene. Coincidentally, Josh Hodges, Ryan Bjornstad, and Shawn Glassford's debut album capitalizes on the same digitally manipulated indie pop sheen that defined Menomena's debut, with some additional chips added to the ante. The new dual drumming sensations add lush MGMT retro keyboard arrangements, the soft, breathy vocal style and articulate basslines of Pinback, and the acoustic-meets-drum machine and computer glitches of Yoshimi-era Flaming Lips to the mix in their update to the formula. The standout track of the album, "German Love," cops the sound of the Lips' "Do You Realize" practically verbatim as a sunshiny but sleepy digitized ditty with only the lyrics, "German love, I will give it to you" and "She won't have a thing to do with me" drifting by sweetly, like a Mac-made lullaby. This simple, easygoing mood stretches throughout the recording, which makes for a nice listen, but because a lot of the songs blend together in this pleasant, dreamlike state, they're tough to remember by the record's finish, and they fade quickly from memory, as old dreams tend to do. Only one song has an actual full set of lyrics, with complete verses, and the instrumentals are especially forgettable, acting only as repetitive synthesized filler to push the album over the 30-minute mark. Yes, it's short, and yes, much of the disc lacks substance, but like a bag of marshmallows, there's enough light and fun fluff to make it enjoyable until the sugar buzz wears off and the yawns begin. In short doses, songs like "Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second" and the dazzling dirty Rhodes jamboree "Pop Song" could be the perfect prescription to brighten up a rainy Northwestern morning. The rest is better for brunch-time background music or an early afternoon nap.
For a group whose name mocks the very fan base they're creating, Starfucker knows how to engage a crowd. Playing last Tuesday at the Bottom of the Hill, the Oregon based band brought energy, humor and talent. When this combination transfers to their record, they'll have an army of starfuckers ready and waiting.
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As if you needed any more evidence that Portland's music scene is on fire, PDX Pop Now! have just released the track listing for their latest (and possibly greatest) compilation featuring some of Portland's finest. Now in its fourth year, the 2007 PDX Pop Now! two-disc set is their most diverse compilation yet, offering a nice mix of acts that are well-known (the Decemberists), on-the-verge (th...
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Back when I was a late night DJ on college radio, I paid more attention to profanity. This was because the FCC, in their attempts to be total fucking dicks, focused an inordinate amount of their scrutiny on college stations. Apparently, any time a profane word made its way onto the air, the station was [...]
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MP3: Starfucker - Isabella Of CastileNOTE: As the year winds down and we look back at the records we've come into, it's a good time to figure out what may have been missed. This week I will take you there, and over the weekend there will be 2 bonus posts of albums you probably didn't miss, but I'll talk about why I think they rule and maybe open a dialog. Fuck yeah!Okay, so this record just cam...
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Good morning and welcome to the The Best Music of 2008 edition of "480 Minutes."There was some science involved in the rankings, including scouring playlists to determine how many times songs got played on the air throughout the year, and how many songs from albums got played, etc. The parts not covered by science, like the final touches and tweaks, were all made with an almost complete disreg...
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as in Neopolitan! This band is a local Portland band getting a lot of attention as of late. Nice video to match.
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--- - |- GuessWhat!? Their fetish for colored scotch tape & dressing up in lolita style drag has nothing to do with their music, except for the flamboyance factor that is definitely there. You might heard of this trio of softies in past couple months when blogs circulated their song German Love because it was kinda nice and some people compared them to The Teenagers because it seemed to b...
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For a group whose name mocks the very fan base they're creating, Starfucker knows how to engage a crowd. Playing last Tuesday at the Bottom of the Hill, the Oregon based band brought energy, humor and talent. When this combination transfers to their record, they'll have an army of starfuckers ready and waiting.
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Florida |
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| 2 German Love |
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| 3 Myke Ptyson |
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| 4 Laadeedaa |
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| 5 Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second |
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| 6 U Ba Khin |
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| 7 Holly |
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| 8 Hard Smart Beta |
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| 9 Pop Song |
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| 10 Miss You |
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| 11 Isabella of Castile |
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 "Starfucker")
