Starfucker

Jupiter (Badman)

By Christine Werthman
Published: May 27th, 2009 | 7:00am

Rarely is there a musical moment more disappointing than loving a band’s live show only to discover that the group’s recorded material stinks by comparison. It’s like meeting someone who you think is attractive and then not being able to find one decent photograph of them online to share with friends. “You just have to see them play live” is the equivalent to saying, “She/He is much cuter in person!” And while you can get over a person being non-photogenic, it is much harder to accept a band with the great live show, terrible album combo. Luckily, for the four gentleman of Starfucker, their one-two punch ensures that both ends of the deal are upheld.

Starfucker hails from Portland, Oregon, and plays a live show that is pure, downer-free, high-energy, dance-electro fun. The sound quality on Jupiter has the studio benefit of sounding crisper and allowing you to make out the lyrics of soft-voiced singer Ryan Biornstad; but the sophomore album, following up the group’s self-titled 2008 debut on Badman Recording Co., never goes so far as to make the music sound sterile. This eight-song LP captures the playful essence of the live show; meaning that, while the concert will get you moving at a venue, the album will get you just as pumped up for a dance party in, say, your apartment — or a less-appropriate location, like your office.

Jupiter opens with “Medicine,” one of the best on the album. The track provides a master list of all of the elements that Starfucker uses in its songs, including the sharp points of synthesized keyboard notes, fluid and non-abrasive bass lines, bouncing drum beats, and turntable scratching. From there, the album moves through the electronic squiggles and organ-like sustained notes of “Boy Toy,” the explosive kickoff of “Biggie Smalls,” the toned down, instrumental groove of “Jupiter,” and a more subdued (but equally dance-friendly) cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.” The album lasts for less than 30 minutes, but in that time, listeners are exposed to music that requires no disclaimers and holds up equally well under live and recorded circumstances.

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