Layered synths and a sunny disposition mark the return of STRFKR to the electro scene - with a dash of philosophical ruminations to stimulate the brain, too.
You won’t find many dance albums lyrically centred on death and the end of the world. But STRFKR’s latest is one of them after frontman Josh Hodges’ gran passed away.
But wait - it’s no gloomy affair. Mystery Cloud, a highlight, could be Mercury Rev fed through a bubblegum machine dispensed from the future.
An airy, irrepressibly bouncy, tumbling riff is finished with an excerpt from a philosopher telling people to contemplate death in order to ‘fertilise’ their life.
But STRFKR’s dance-pop genes hamstring efforts at spreading revelation. Far better to soak up the layered synths and easy beats instead, or enjoy the pleasantly woozy, dusk-on-the-beach quality of The White Of Noon.
Not packed with dancefloor-fillers, not dull as disco ditchwater, Reptilians rides it out.
3 stars
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