Song of the Day: STRFKR - Never Ever

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Every Friday, we feature a song by a Pacific Northwestern artist. Today’s song, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is “Never Ever”, the latest single by Portland band STRFKR, released in 2016 on Polyvinyl.

STRFKR - Never Ever (MP3)

Portland's STRFKR specialize in highly danceable, lo-fi filtered tunes, straddling a rarely-walked line that divides festival-ready jams and studio-intensive textures. Formed by Joshua Hodges as a solo project in 2007, the oft-renamed band (STRFKR is their current moniker, after previously being known at one point as Pyramiddd and occasionally as the expanded Starfucker) has spent most of the past decade as a reliable touring act and festival mid-card staple while releasing a series of albums that took the band's melodic sensibilities and ran them through spiky, psychedelic, and acidic filters with often deceptively catchy results. Their latest album, 2013's Miracle Mile, was perhaps their both their most accessible and consistent album to date, and although there isn't any official word on its followup, the band have plans to tour throughout 2016, implying their fifth LP is not far off. The other sign that a new album is on its way is the release of "Never Ever", a (so far) non-album single that clicks and snaps just as tautly as anything on Miracle Mile. Centered around Hodges' airy voice and a bevy of icy synths, the song's head-bobbing, four-on-the-floor chorus is a clear sign that the band are embracing their club rhythm tendencies in the best way possible. There's a confidence running through the track that could only come from a band that has conquered more than a few packed clubs and festival slots, and if "Never Ever" is what STRFKR are arming themselves with for summer '16, they're going to conquer a few more of those settings in the not-too-distant future.

STRFKR were just in the Pacific Northwest last month, but they'll return for the 2016 Capitol Hill Block Party. Keep up with the band at their website and Facebook, and watch the band play "Never Ever" live on KEXP last month.