Tagline: STRFKR return with Miracle Mile, a perplexing album that is neither miraculous nor merely a mile.
OK, I’m going to be blunt: the wussy world of electronic-pop STRFKR calls home is not my genre of choice. And if you’re going to consciously name your band “Starfucker,” only to sheepishly spell it “STRFKR” half the time… well, that doesn’t exactly help. All band-bashing aside, it really doesn’t help that Miracle Mile, the group’s first studio effort since 2011’s Reptilians, is a one-dimensional album bogged down by uninspired vocal performances and glued together with gimmicky effects.
The record begins promising enough, however, as the band quickly serves up three slices of full-blown funk. Opener “While I’m Alive” is boosted by the groove of a chugging bass line and rounded out on the high end by psyched-out synths. Real drums are always a great choice for dance music, but unfortunately STRFKR opted to go the other, cheesier route. At their best, the opening songs sound like a drugged-down MGMT with a hint of Of Montreal’s prissiness.
Yet four tracks in, STRFKR really FK up and head to the beach — because the world needs another Grouplove, right? Selling their synths for acoustic guitars, the band fakes their way through a handful of two-minute half-assings. It’s a pretty baffling switch, honestly. “Fortune’s Fool” is the only track that doesn’t drown in this shallow pool, but it does fall victim to not being whole-assed: it practically ends as soon as it begins.
In fact, the majority of Miracle Mile sounds like it was constructed around the discovery of a cool hook or effect. And that’s perfectly acceptable, except the band doesn’t know where to go from there. The melodies and choruses certainly don’t help. I can’t abstain from assuming that Joshua Hodge’s voice was purposefully placed that low in the mix because his vocals are dully delivered and instantly forgettable. And by the time the tenth track, “Atlantis,” arrives, it feels like forever has come and gone. Even the band sounds itchy to chuck their acoustic guitars and resume being the lame-ass version of Passion Pit (and no, Passion Pit doesn’t hold that title).
Fortunately, the back third of Miracle Mile is undoubtedly the strongest and most refreshing. “I Don’t Want to See” sounds like B-Side Holy Ghost!, which is certainly nothing to scoff at. “Golden Light” and “Nite Rite” round out the album, and make me wonder if STRFKR left too much in the tank for the end of the race. The tracks feel flushed out, and unlike the rest of the album, the band lets them breathe; all seven minutes of the repetitive outro “Nite Rite” feel, well, rite.
But it’s a bummer to think it took 15 mostly-mundane tracks to get there. Miracle Mile could have been so much more with so much less: STRFKR again leave it to the listeners to trim the fat. There’s a solid (and perhaps, rewarding) album somewhere in here, but it’ll certainly take a miracle mile to reach it.
Miracle Mile