Foxygen
…And Star Power
[Jagjaguwar]
Foxygen’s latest record …And Star Power is, unsurprisingly for a band whose schtick has always gleefully drawn on the overblown clichés of classic rock, a concept double LP. That being said it is one of the most svelte and manageable of its ilk, at a lean-by-comparison 82 minutes. It’s only bloated if you think Double Stuf Oreos are bloated, in which case you are mistaken, as it’s patently obvious that it’s hard for anything to be ‘full’ when the filling in question is delicious, moreish cream. Foxygen’s work has always exalted their influences, and the extra attention given to the recording process here is evident from the get-go, as they go about satisfyingly aping Dylan, the Stooges and Suicide all on the same record.
Extra-terrestrial fetishism has always been part of their knowingly goofball mythology, and accordingly, it’s as if these interstellar travellers have had 50 years of rock history beamed into their brains, only to squeeze all that history into one, extended, other-worldly groove. Boogie-woogie keyboards collapse into feedback squalls, as the every-expanding band and innumerable guests deftly walk the line between perfectly-formed songcraft and the sound of that songcraft utterly falling apart from moment to moment. From slow-burning, folksy crooners to high-kicking shout along numbers …And Star Power has you covered in the earworm stakes. Exhausting? Sure. A total pleasure? Certainly.
Like this? Try these:
Circuit Rider – Circuit Rider
Syd Barrett – The Madcap Laughs
Salvia Plath – The Bardo Story
Words: Danny Wilson
