Tidbits: Foxygen – The Myth, The Legend, The Truth
Originally Posted March 2nd, 2013
Foxygen is an upstate New York based indie rock band that follows in the foot steps of classic greats such as David Bowie, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones with a heavy top coat wash of new psychedelics. With their second album having just been released a year after the first and produced by major recording engineer Richard Swift , the band has basically gone viral with kids gobbling up their albums and show tickets left and right. Sadly, however the sweet life might turn sour real soon for the newly successful Foxygen.
Bucket of Rocks been on top of our game enough (‘cause we’re awesome. Wink. Wink.) to have caught two local live Foxygen shows and it wasn’t until after the second show at the Metro Gallery (Baltimore) that I felt compelled to write a little sumptin sumptin. I was following some discussions on the facebook event from the Baltimore show and everyone was really disappointed with their performance. Admittedly, the first time I saw Foxygen at the 9:30 Club (DC) opening for MGMT, I too thought “what a train wreck”. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting based on listening to Take The Kids Off Broadway (the only album available at that time), in fact they only played maybe one or half of one song from that album. What bothers people is the amount of dissonance and often chaos that occurs on stage at a Foxygen show. Where art thou hooky beats? Where art thou sweet psych melodies? Where art thou polished stage persona… The kids cry.
All of these questions and concerns are completely justifiable for such a hyped band, but here’s some food for thought. Was the Sex Pistol’s any less of a band because of Syd Vicious and their sloppy performances? Maybe part of the chaos is intentional, a stage act, just not the stage act you were expecting. Probably a lot of it is not however. I like the recent Foxygen interview on NPR World Café. It gives insight into the immaturity of a band that started out creating somewhat dissonant and psychedelic sampling mixes with over dubs and that is now, within the last year expected to be a seasoned stage band that tours the US constantly reproducing intricately layered recordings.
So have we been purposefully hoodwinked or are we all just mad that our great expectations were way off base? Here’s some tips… don’t go into a Foxygen show expecting Take The Kids Off Broadway or We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic or any other preconceived concept. Every show is for better or worse, a unique uncontrolled reincarnation of the controlled environments on both albums. The reason you are going to see Foxygen is to see a band that will some day back up this majestic sound they’ve created on record and sell out stadiums or fall into death or rehab and never perform live again leaving us with what could have been. Anyway, what’s wrong with a little chaos, a little freak show. This is America, don’t we thrive on that stuff? The best quote from the NPR interview is that Foxygen is “literally psychedelic”. No truer words have been spoken because Foxygen’s live performances are a dizzying trip between stage mess ups, eccentric personality, and the most fluid and happiness evoking melodic moments.
Foxygen is an upstate New York based indie rock band that follows in the foot steps of classic greats such as David Bowie, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones with a heavy top coat wash of new psychedelics. With their second album having just been released a year after the first and produced by major recording engineer Richard Swift , the band has basically gone viral with kids gobbling up their albums and show tickets left and right. Sadly, however the sweet life might turn sour real soon for the newly successful Foxygen.
Bucket of Rocks been on top of our game enough (‘cause we’re awesome. Wink. Wink.) to have caught two local live Foxygen shows and it wasn’t until after the second show at the Metro Gallery (Baltimore) that I felt compelled to write a little sumptin sumptin. I was following some discussions on the facebook event from the Baltimore show and everyone was really disappointed with their performance. Admittedly, the first time I saw Foxygen at the 9:30 Club (DC) opening for MGMT, I too thought “what a train wreck”. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting based on listening to Take The Kids Off Broadway (the only album available at that time), in fact they only played maybe one or half of one song from that album. What bothers people is the amount of dissonance and often chaos that occurs on stage at a Foxygen show. Where art thou hooky beats? Where art thou sweet psych melodies? Where art thou polished stage persona… The kids cry.
All of these questions and concerns are completely justifiable for such a hyped band, but here’s some food for thought. Was the Sex Pistol’s any less of a band because of Syd Vicious and their sloppy performances? Maybe part of the chaos is intentional, a stage act, just not the stage act you were expecting. Probably a lot of it is not however. I like the recent Foxygen interview on NPR World Café. It gives insight into the immaturity of a band that started out creating somewhat dissonant and psychedelic sampling mixes with over dubs and that is now, within the last year expected to be a seasoned stage band that tours the US constantly reproducing intricately layered recordings.
So have we been purposefully hoodwinked or are we all just mad that our great expectations were way off base? Here’s some tips… don’t go into a Foxygen show expecting Take The Kids Off Broadway or We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic or any other preconceived concept. Every show is for better or worse, a unique uncontrolled reincarnation of the controlled environments on both albums. The reason you are going to see Foxygen is to see a band that will some day back up this majestic sound they’ve created on record and sell out stadiums or fall into death or rehab and never perform live again leaving us with what could have been. Anyway, what’s wrong with a little chaos, a little freak show. This is America, don’t we thrive on that stuff? The best quote from the NPR interview is that Foxygen is “literally psychedelic”. No truer words have been spoken because Foxygen’s live performances are a dizzying trip between stage mess ups, eccentric personality, and the most fluid and happiness evoking melodic moments.
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