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Foxy Shazam

Foxy Shazam

Written by: TL on 01/04/2010 00:28:06

Ladies and gentlemen, re-introducing: Foxy Shazam! The weird, weird piano rocking six-piece who made one hell of a racket with their attention-demanding début "Introducing" about three years ago, dazzling us with songs such as "Rocketeer" and "Red Cape Diver", yet soon fading from view, at least over here in European lands. Now they're back, major label contract in hand and a sophomore album to boot, having hyped things up with a trailer in which they sang the word "We are unstoppable, no we won't be defeated!" with conviction. Something to look forward to, huh?

First thing one notices when putting on the self titled album for the first time, is that Foxy have cleaned up their act and upped the ambition somewhat. Last time around, their offering was a batch of piano-madness sounding like it was played while the band was flying down a staircase, and leading man Eric Nally would break into screams now and then, linking the band to 'the scene' and fortifying a very edgy expression. Those traits have been outgrown now however, and while Foxy Shazam can still be said to be mad as hatters, they now mostly showcase this with melodic pop/rock that is so over the top in theatricality that it sounds like Queen composing a Broadway musical on coke.

Now whether one likes this new approach or not is going to be a matter of what is most in ones taste, screamy underground music or OTT musical stuff. However, whatever one thinks of Foxy's new style, it's impossible to deny that they've composed an album that is not only bursting with attitude and wacky instrumentation, but also with catchy choruses gallore.

After a weird as hell intro, full of barking and Eric Nally ranting in a rowdy voice, the first eight tracks have lines that will easily stick to your mind, with cheeky delivery of pearls such as "I want my friends to think I'm so punk rock, I'm not punk rock at all!" and "Life is a bitch, but she's totally doable" standing out the most from "Wanna Be Angel" and "Bye Bye Symphony". If you think about it, that's actually already an album worth of songs it has taken Foxy to get to a point where they turn away from head on catchiness, and while the following handful of numbers aren't as immediately memorable, they compensate by offering fun experimentations with a variety of funky theatrical styles. In fact, I think if the last six songs had been offered as a separate EP, I would have liked that just as much, simply because it's just delightfully quirky.

One could wonder of course, if it would've then been better for Foxy to split the disc up in two, seeing as the feeling of reduced catchiness could also just be because the band becomes a bit too much over fifteen songs? Again, I'll leave that for the individual to decide, because all I need to know is that "Foxy Shazam" is an album jampacked, both with unique personality and songs I want to sing along to, and records like that don't quite come around every day.

Download: Unstoppable, Bye Bye Symphony, Oh Lord, Wanna Be Angel
For The Fans Of: Queen, Jaguar Love, The Blood Brothers, Panic At The Disco
Listen: myspace.com/foxyshazam

Release Date 13.04.2010
Sire Records / Ferret Music