Foxy Shazam
Introducing
New Weathermen/ Ferret
(2008)
Foxy Shazam may throw enough curve balls to strike out your preconceived notions of affiliate Ferret Records - a hardcore label with a disgusting amount of boring and homogenized metalcore acts – and well, they’d deserve the K. I mean what other band could take the discordant fray of The Blood Brothers and turn it into a more accessible sound, one that could site both Meatloaf and At The Drive-In as valid influences? See, Foxy Shazam are able to take the pomposity of classic‘70s rock dinosaurs and fuse it with the club-going panache of the hipster elite. They rock like they spent their high school years as theater kids from some boring suburb who wore out mix tapes that were equal parts Dischord records and Bowie.
While this is only their sophomore release Foxy Shazam have a sort of confident swagger, one that makes for a sweaty party where Zippo-waving arena rock crashes head on into a frenzied underground art-punk performance. “The Rocketeer” is a brash and sassy cabaret piece full of caterwauling vocals and clamoring piano lines, while “It’s Hair Smelled Like Bonfire,” is a raucous and spazzy number that sounds like Les Savy Fav if they listened to more fugues, and “Black Man’s Breakfast” plays like a Hall and Oates jam being hijacked by some jittery speed-freaks with loud amps and a fetish for Queen riffs. Still, the raw and theatrical pastiche doesn’t always work so well.
“The Science of Love” is an awkward Casio-soul foray that sounds more like some lovelorn ‘80s teen making an audio valentine than a the work of an experienced band, while “Ghost Animals” plays like a loud and sloppy tune from an understandably forgotten musical. It is these moments that hurt Introducing the most, turning a dangerously hip band back into hammy high school starlets.
-Matt Whelihan
Posted under Hometown
This post was written by MyFriendCleveland on January 25, 2008
