STRFKR - Miracle Mile

If you’re the kind of person who gets a lot out of being able to understand lyrics and wonder what inspired them, and maybe even relate to them, it might be best if you avoid STRFKR, and their newest album, ‘Miracle Mile’. But, if you like your electronic music on the poppy side, with a dash of distorted vocals, then step right up. Because that’s pretty much the Portland-based band in a nutshell.

‘Miracle Mile’ feels like the sonic equivalent of a journey far longer than a mile – at 15 tracks and 50 minutes long, it’s a bit of a mission. A pointless mission. But ooh, aren’t some of the sights pretty along the way?

Opener ‘While I’m Alive’ sets the dance-happy tone that you can find throughout much of the album; it’s a track that’s pretty good as it is, with big beats and a catchy chorus, but it could easily be remixed into a different kind of sound. The funky ‘Malmo’ is very much the same in this respect, especially with that light whistling setting it up for indie clubs everywhere. After a bit of a lull, the album picks up again with ‘Atlantis’, a short but sweet track. It’s not too saccharine, and it leads well into the slightly more dramatic ‘Leave It All Behind’.

It’s hard to tell if the first half of ‘Miracle Mile’ is really better than the first, or whether it’s just that a kind of boredom sets in at some point during a listen, whether it’s your first or your fifth. The tracks would probably be memorable if you really paid attention, but like that great song you heard once on a dancefloor, it was over before you got a chance to really notice it, and now it’s gone forever.

Stepping away from the dancefloor metaphor, ‘Kahlil Gibran’ is a chilled, blissed-out highlight of synth-pop, and it seems that STRFKR should maybe pull at this string some more. Considering this is their third album, you’d think they would have found their sound by now. Of course, maybe they have; maybe it’s just not groundbreaking.