Miracle Workers
By Eric Webb
1. If you’re not familiar with this band: Hey. Stop giggling. You are a child.
2. If you don’t understand that previous sentence: Keep reading, Mom. Nevermind.
Miracle Mile, Portland electro act STRFKR’s third album, is like a delicious, tangy shot of indiscretion. Is it groovy? Shyeah. Is it restrained? Like a well-tailored pair of pants. Is it entrancing? Sorry, I wasn’t listening to what you were saying. Take a little Miike Snow, splash some Cut Copy, garnish with Congratulations-era MGMT, infuse forbidden desires — you’ve got yourself a STRFKR special.
Start with “Golden Light,” which will throw a little Passion into your Pit. It’s a snaky, intrepid little track that solves crimes in the moonlight. The introductory “While I’m Alive” is a little more brazen, cruising along to a delightful siren of “wooooooweeeeeeeoooooo” and a dirty disco purr.
If Foster the People is a Diet Coke, “Malmo” is a mango daquiri … spiked with hydrochloric acid. For a song named after a type of IKEA furniture, it starts with a typical electropop template and expands the sound in a most intrepid fashion (I daresay it sounds “global,” whatever that means).
The best thing about Miracle Mile — and this is a compliment — is that you forget you’re listening to it. Not because it’s tedious, but because it flows so well. They may be shamelessly looking for attention, STRFKR are as confident as synth-wranglers come. Enter their garden of bad decisions.
Eric’s Picks
(1) “While I’m Alive”
(3) “Malmo”
(4) “Beach Monster”
(14) “Golden Light”
