Star F*cking Hipsters - Until We’re Dead Review

Posted by Jes Tones on 10.14.2008

A "new" NYC punk rock collaboration is on the scene with a fierce and controversial debut...do you know the Star Fucking Hipsters? Let me make an introduction...

I don’t even know where to start. The debut album from the “Star Fucking Hipsters”. With a moniker like that, how can you go wrong? I was already on their side. Then I did a little investigating, and discovered quite a few interesting morsels about this “new” band. So this is how it’s going to work--I’m going to list a few more or less riveting facts about the SFHs, and YOU are going to decide whether or not this album rocks before even listening to it:

1. Record label: Fat Wreck Chords.

2. Members include: current and/or former members of bands like Choking Victim (Scott “Stza” Sturgeon), The Degenerics (Frank Piegaro), Leftöver Crack (Sturgeon, Ara Babajian), the Slackers (Ara Babajian), Nanuchka (Yula Beeri), World/Inferno Friendship Society (Yula Beeri) and Casa de Chihuahua (Nico de Gaillo), and “honorary members” from bands such as the Bouncing Souls and the Hold Steady.

3. Tour: If you let them crash at your place at a stop on their tour, you can get a free tattoo from female vocalist Nico de Gaillo (see the band’s myspace page for details).

4. Self-described politics: “ANTI-RACIST, ANTI-SEXIST, ANTI-HOMOPHOBIC & ANTI-FASCIST…pro-choice, but anti-breeding…against any wars that are fought for profit or for the power to enslave people or to destroy the cultures of another race, religious or ethnic group” (again, courtesy of myspace.com/starfuckinghipsters).

5. Arrests: Not too long ago, Sturgeon was arrested for--that’s right--throwing donuts at police (this, apparently, being only one of MANY police altercations for Stza and his various bands).

6. Squatters: Members have and/or do reside in an abandoned tenement building in NYC’s lower east side called “C Squat.”

If you haven’t decided by now to buy this album, you might as well quit reading. Ska/punk roots and rhythms should be obvious, a female tattoo artist (de Gaillo) sharing vocals should be intriguing, songs with titles like “911 Was (An Inside Joke)” should be provocative, but…how does it all add up?



I had an instant, intense and almost animalistic crush on this album, even before uncovering the most interesting bits of trivia revealed above. Honestly, the only analogy I could think of for this kind of attraction was my almost entirely irrational selection of fellas to date--the instant, intense crush didn’t make any sense, was completely unexpected, and completely knocked me off my feet. And, also not unlike every irrational dating choice I make, no matter how strange or inappropriate it undoubtedly is, there is just no talking me out of it.

So I decided to take this brand-spanking new, and potentially unhealthy, relationship to the logical next Step: internet stalking (hence the trivia), which only burgeoned said crush. Then, of course, on to Step 2: parading my new infatuation in front of my friends, gushing of its glory and sophistication, of finally finding the perfect match. My friends, of course, were their usual apathetic selves and simply shook their heads, shrugged their shoulders and said to call them when I was over it…girls will be girls.

Then, testing my devotion, I rolled around with it, stayed in bed all afternoon contemplating its infinite wisdom and mystery. And finally, predictably, the infatuation waned and I went back to a somewhat normal artist rotation, struggling to see straight again. And with the return of my 20/20, I realized what I always realize in such situations--I like this album, a lot. But I am not in love with it. By its very nature (explained below, I promise) it will probably not be in my life long term. However, it is a LOT of fun right now and I hope to hear from this band in the future--when it’s grown up, matured a little, worked out the kinks, played the field a little.

I will admit there is also an element of self-preservation in play here. I’ve learned the hard way not to fall in love with a side project. You just can’t depend on them for longevity, which, for a girl with commitment issues to begin with, is a huge hurdle. You always have to wonder if these “side projects” are really going to go anywhere and, really, it’s too soon for “the talk.”

Setting all cheeky analogies aside, ultimately this album is far more than a fling with an interesting ska/punk collaboration. Taken literally, one might even consider it a call to arms for a far too apathetic American populace. It is a political album, for sure. And if you disagree with this band’s politics, this album will likely be entirely lost on you and, as I said above, you probably should have stopped reading after paragraph two.

The very first track (well, not counting “Introducción a los Hipsters”), “Until We’re Dead,” warns that “while you sit idly by, you have no alibi, ‘cause when the day is through, it’s all your fault and my fault too…so duck and cover good, when they attack your ‘hood, we need to shoot ‘em back, or we will feel the thunder crack…you fucking hipster fool, we will be star fucking you!...until we’re dead.” The message? Time to wake up folks. Look around, speak up, react. “We’ll sleep when we’re dead.” And this is just the initial attack--a fast, hard-hitting intro to be followed closely by alternating ska, classic punk and rock beats, also alternating male and female lead vocals, making every attempt to jolt the listener into action or, at the very least, discerning contemplation. Looks like these Hipsters haven’t gotten much sleep at all lately.

What I like most about this album though, is that it manages to convey a very urgent political message (agenda?) without sounding preachy or contrived. Rather, it is at once intelligent, considered, and striking, yet at times cheeky, poetic, and even funny (“we will be star fucking you!”). These are not ignorant street punks--in fact, more than once I had to break out my Webster’s to figure out what the hell these guys were even talking about (and I went to college for seven years, jackass)--but “autonomistic paradise”? “Sycophantic drones”?

Learn from history, don’t trust TV and corporate America, don’t believe everything you see and are told, question authority, dissent, object, think for yourself, recognize the hypocrisy of killing in the name of Jesus Christ, God, Allah (pick your idol), etc., etc. The principles conveyed by this album should not be dismissed as “leftist,” “liberal” diatribes, but undoubtedly they will be by some. (And undoubtedly this explains Sturgeon’s frequent police altercations.) Does it take it to the extreme? At times, yes: “two dead police, one for hope and one for peace” (from one of my personal favorites on this album, “Immigrants & Hypocrites”) is a little severe. But sometimes that’s what it takes to get peoples’ attention, no?

With the state of the world right now and the crumbling economy, with NYC bankers predicting “Armageddon” and everyone else sitting idle, confused, afraid of action or maybe just confused and inert--who can blame anyone for having such a strong reaction/objection. If nothing else, this disc is one thing you see very little of in today’s music: relevant…thought-provoking, and real. Think for yourself, but listen to this album with 20/20.

Track Listing:

1: Introducción a los Hipsters
2: Until We’re Dead
3: Immigrants & Hypocrites
4: Two Cups Of Tea
5: Empty Lives
6: Snitch to the Suture
7: Only Sleep
8: 9/11 Was (An Inside Joke)
9: The Path is Paved
10: Zombie Christ
11: This Wal-Mart Life
12: Broken
13: Death or Fight

The 411: Get it. Listen. Think. Then, ask for more.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]