Starfucker ended 2008 with a bang! Their debut album had been featured on iTunes Indie Spotlight and MySpace; their video premiered on Pitchfork, and they had one of the all-time most dowloaded songs ("German Love") on eMusic's Daily Download. On Valentine's Day they played to their largest sold-out (900 folks) crowd in their hometown of Portland, Oregon. And less than nine months after delivering their debut, they are back with an eight song album. In this rough economic spell, it is revitalizing to see a band who's stock is on the rise.
In the summer of 2007, in a house basement, Josh Hodges sat behind a stripped-down borrowed drumset with a loop pedal and a microphone with the simple goal of having fun with the young crowd gathered there for the show. A few short months later, a project invented solely out of the need for something different and new in his life had him sharing the stage with former Sexton Blake band-mate Ryan Biornstad and new friend Shawn Glassford to create a potent live show that is powerful enough to transcend the tongue-in-cheek quality behind the band's name. The recent addition of Keil Corcoran as full-time drummer has freed-up both Shawn and Josh, whom previously shared duties sitting behind the kit, to fill out their sound and further dynamicise their performance. Josh handles his guitar and keyboard with hypnotic finess, remaining close to the microphone to deliver his lyrics. Ryan's dancing keeps you addicted to the beat as he pounces on his turntables, guitar, keyboard, and vocals, with Shawn picking up his bass and turning to his keyboard for affection with unending energy. Keil swaggers confidently in the back, rapping effortlessly at his drumset giving the band ground to stand on. The four give a vivid four-dimensional geometry to Josh's songs.
After seeing Starfucker perform, Dylan Magierek of Badman Recording Co. was blown away. "Seeing them play for that first time was one of those very rare occasions when I immediately felt I had to work with these guys. Their sound is absolutely infectious and they have all the elements I look for in a great band." Josh and Dylan (Mark Kozelek, Laura Gibson, Thao Nguyen) went to work at Portland's Type Foundry studio to layer in some extras to Josh's home recordings, rounding out their debut self-titled album (released in September 2008) into a cohesive package of electro indie pop with a light hip-hop after-taste. It's like playing an 8-bit video game where your primary objective is to overcome heartbreak and an obsession with death, your only weapon a love laser mounted on a space bike that zaps out bright red blips and neon bleeps.
Starfucker was invited to play a show for a party in Tokyo, Japan, following it up with a national tour to New York for the 2008 CMJ Music Festival to promote their self-titled debut. After playing sold out shows to frenetic all-age audiences in their home town, Portland, OR, Starfucker is preparing to tour to the country again in support of Jupiter; a dance mini-LP that they consider a sister to the debut. It is scheduled to be released in May 2009 on Badman. The album gives listeners a chance to hear tracks previously dedicated solely to the live show; complete with the planet explorative patter well known on the last record, while reigning in their synth-heavy beat machine dialect for a fresh outlook on what dance music sounds like in their part of the universe. This may be the music Josh was playing for his imaginary audience of aliens when he was a kid. It's poppy, it's catchy, and it's palatable, and that's a good thing.
"...fractured, homemade pop, with handclaps, bleary synths, drum machines, clunky acoustic guitars, and honeyed lo-fi harmonies." - Pitchfork
"The kids love Josh Hodges' low-fi dance-pop steez, and they show up in droves whether he plays house parties or clubs." - Willamette Week
Starfucker is touring from March - September 2009.
