Song Recommendation: “Moon Castle” by Starwolf (2024)

Man, sometimes you really can judge a book by its cover, huh? Or, in this case, an album by its sleeve art. Just take a look at all of the elements at play here. The record? Tropical Disco. The track name? “Moon Castle.” Album art? A kaleidoscopic view of dozens of golden disco balls floating in a starry void. The band name? Starwolf. Got all that?

Now imagine what it sounds like and you’re probably right. Are there crisp, Chic-era guitars? Of course. A flute solo? You bet. An unrelenting funky groove? Check. Reminding me of nothing short of the promise of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories (that of modern electronic filtered through the sparkling hi-fi analogue recording practices and philosophies of ’70s disco, funk, and R&B) but coming to completely different conclusions than our helmeted French duo. It’s a party and a blast for sure, but “Moon Castle” glides along on a krautrock-y vibe that’s just short of menacing and doesn’t let you go for a second of its 5-minute running time. At this point, no other song on the album has quite taken me or announced such a clear mission statement as this track, but Starwolf are definitely worth keeping an eye on.