"We're sorry about your football team," said Starfucker* guitarist Ryan Biornstad to the packed crowd of college-age Houstonians at Fitz, just eight hours after the Houston Texans gracefully bowed out of its first ever playoff trip.
Starfucker/STRFKR/Pyramid/Pyramidd may be from Portland but the foursome seem to know a little something about southern hospitality. Along with their aforementioned expression of casual sympathy over Houston's playoff exit, they also managed to give the Fitz crowd a sort of awesome escape with their oh-so-catchy tunes.
Starfucker is what you'd get if the Energizer bunny swallowed Little Dragon and burped pre-Congratulations era MGMT. It's a brand of sophisti-pop that relies heavily on twee vocals, dense guitars, and synthesizer showers. Lyrics fixate on love, life, loss, and afterlife, occasionally with a hint of sarcasm -- something you only half notice when dancing to the booming drums and fuzzy synths they're set to. No matter the topic at hand, Starfucker is relentlessly giddy. Sunday, their set list was upbeat and cohesive to the point that it started to give off a monochromatic effect, with several songs playing like one long tune.
The crowd loved every second of it. Multi-instrumentalist Josh Hodges led the chorus of enthusiastic fans, while bassist Shawn Glassford and tank-topped guitarist Ryan Biornstad held their own with head-banging and body isometrics.