The Scene

There’s a lot to be said for artful brevity, even within the sprawling kaleidoscopic world of modern psychedelia. Foxygen – great name – seem to have figured this out with their latest effort which will be a huge sigh of relief to all my fellow comrades in jams who loved Ambassadors of Peace and Magic but found the double album slog that is …And Star Power all too much to handle.

Fronted by Sam France and Jonathan Rado, Foxygen first emerged with their 2011 debut ‘Take the Kids Off Broadway’. It’s a cheeky lil record with some strong moments but it was the follow up to that which really put them on the map. ‘We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic was released in 2013. Nine songs of hippie lovin’ and funky jammin’. At times they sounded like the Stones, at times they sounded like Dylan, at times they sounded like Bowie and at times they sounded like nothing else on earth.

I happen to be of the belief that WAT21CAOPAM is a stunner of a rock and roll record. It’s delightfully weird and yet pleasantly melodic. Tunes are sprawling yet full of hooks. I mean, what more do you want from a slice of psychedelia? San Francisco is a superb track, as are the likes of No Destruction and Oh Yeah. The whole album’s great, man. Look it up if you haven’t already.

But then things got complicated. There were all sorts of personal dramas within the band, their live shows were apparently complete trash at times and they flirted with breaking up more than once – if talk is to be trusted. They didn’t though. Instead they bounced back with a doubled down sense of creativity and the product was ‘…And Star Power’.

This one was a rambling double album, loosely based around a fictional alter ego band called Star Power. It runs for 82 minutes and 24 songs, split into four sides: The Hits, The Paranoid Side, Scream: Journey Through Hell and Hang on to Love. For Star Power they played up the glam and pop elements of their sound, which felt like a perfectly natural progression but eighty two minutes? Guys, come on.

Listening to Star Power, it’s a rare moment that isn’t catchy or compelling, it just lacks the power and passion of the previous effort. Cut it in half and it could have been something wondrous, maybe even two wondrous things released individually. But together it was all too convoluted. Too many ideas, too many sounds, too many experiments. Too much.

And now, three years later, we have Hang.

The Songs

1. Follow the Leader – Electric piano and strings give way to a bit of white boy soul with a kinda weak chorus… but the rest of it really kicks.
2. Avalon – Almost a little Randy Newman-esque with the strutting ivories, but that’s just to start. Ends up a stomping refrain about some sexy sounding garden of Avalon.
3. Mrs. Adams – Woah there, mam. Careful where you point that thing. Desperate and full of disparate parts which all blend in a Lou Reed meets Richard Yates kind of character portrait. Feels like the centrepiece until the next song starts.
4. America – Here the strings really take over, engulfing it all in the comprehensive and diverse way it’s title suggests. Switches from piano ballad to horror score to triumphant musical to jazz haunt and back again because if you’re already there then you’re already dead if you’re living in America.
5. On Lankershim – Oh and now they sound like Elton John for a second… until they don’t. Definitely still in that 70s AOR mould. Burns out at the end, gets my vote for best tune of the lot of them.
6. Upon a Hill – A short one, 97 seconds long. Gets a bit waltzy and more verbose than they usually get. Looking out for something, possibly a flamingo, if you see it then just sing a song for me.
7. Trauma – More flamingos, for some reason. Weary and worn, longing and alone. How can I tell you if I don’t know what to say? Caution/cool ocean. The one song that really holds its groove, building towards a point of exhaustion. Everyone has their own trauma.
8. Rise Up – And now we rise, singing a song for love. Thundering drummery with a middle section sounding sorta like the Lion King soundtrack (more Elton). We’re all wandering so do it for yourself.

The Vibe

Well now this is more like it. Hang is way more in keeping with Ambassadors, it’s short and it’s absolutely wild. Instead of stretching their ideas out across songs now they’re back to cramming them all in together, tunes suddenly shifting tempo at the drop of a pin, it’s so much more fun. Gone is the slightly pretentious air of the double album (come on, all double albums are indulgent – that’s what makes the best ones so great and the worst ones so awful). In its place is a whimsical willingness to take things to whatever place feels right in the moment. Nothing meticulous, it’s all about instinct. Obviously that’s not how things woulda panned out in the studio especially not for complicated tunes like these – which by the way feature some copious strings. I guess the best way to put it is that Foxygen are back to indulging in the right kinda things.

In fact with songs about Trauma and suicidal housewives, it’s almost like they’re taking the piss out of the band they tried to be last time. There’s a hugely theatrical side to Hang which is emphasised by the strings but would’ve been there anyway – they’ve said that America was their attempt to do a Disney song – and combined with some tragical/magical imagery you’ve got this Day of the Locusts feel. Hollywood on acid in the midst of a bad trip, full of struggling actors and general ennui. Following on from excess for the point of excess, here we have excess for the point of farcical satire.

Remember that this is a band that’s been on the verge of breakup at least three or four times already, probably 25 more behind the scenes as well. They know a little something about getting drastic.

Yet Foxygen never get nihilistic, they’re way too exuberant for that. The opener about Follow(ing) the Leader? As it so happens, my friend, the leader is YOU. When things get dark in Rise Up, the demand is to “pull yourself up from the fires of hell”. After all, “it’s time to wake up early and start taking care of your health.”

At only a shade over 30 minutes long, it’s a record that leaves you wanting more – even if they cram more into those minutes than most manage. But that’s the way a band like this should be. It’s sure better than the alternative.

The Music

It’s hard to tell if this is a massive concept album or if it’s completely uninhibited by concept. Doesn’t really matter, 0 and 360 degrees are the same thing, ya know? The one thing you can’t deny is that these guys went all in for this sucker. It’s like a hippie broadway extravaganza. Hang is far from flawless but it’s ambitious and that makes up for most of the missteps. The record sweeps you up and carries you along on its wave, before the magic carpet eventually dumps you off unexpectedly and that’s it, album over.

They weren’t kidding about the string section. Foxygen has always been a band that lived on typical rock and roll percussion, with a guitar or two and some fine sounding keys. They love a good female backing vocal trio as well. Yes, and some well-placed brass for kicks. The heavy strings could be a natural progression or yet another indulgence but they definitely aren’t a gimmick. They’re a crucial part of the sound they’re going for. Personally, I reckon they fill out the sound pretty nicely too. It’s a difficult thing to get right (like, for example, when country artists add strings) and yet it feels almost natural. How about that, aye? A full 40-piece string section is what they claim.

And, yes, this is not the most glaringly original band out there. Sam France does sing like Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan got merged together in some lab experiment gone wrong. But… he sounds so much better when he does that. Call it pastiche if you want, they’re not a band that hide their influences very deeply, or you can call it homage or you can call it mirroring or whatever. It’s all words. When France sings with that Jagger spit and swagger it’s just better, both for the band and for everyone else. I’ve seen them live a couple times on streams and he seems like a fella that takes his stage persona very seriously… to the point where he’s easily derailed. Gotta keep that fire burning.

A year or two ago, Foxygen popped up on The Flaming Lips’ Sgt Pepper tribute album and Steven Drozd found the time to repay the favour by playing a few things here. Similarly there are guest appearances from Lemon Twigs as well (another idiosyncratic band with blatant influences – there’s a dude in that duo who looks way too much like Gram Parsons for that to be a fluke). Plus Matthew E. White was the obvious and appropriate choice to add a bit of gravitas to the sound, he himself knowing a thing or two about maximisation.

It’d be reckless not to give a shout out to Johnny Rado too. The other half of the band, both he and France play more instruments than anyone really needs to but they put them all to work and while France tends to prance around on stage like Mick Jagger’s less dangerous but more unpredictable little brother, Rado is normally the steady man on the keys. And goddammit can he play those things!

Revelations

“Foxygen is the Big Bang of two combusting minds. It's the splayed Galaxy of polar geniuses Sam France and Jonathan Rado. It's a handshake with a knife behind your back. A cosmic, Californian death-game of highway chicken. A sleepless night in a five star hotel. Truth or dare. Foxygen is the risk of pushing your best friend off the ledge just to see if they can fly.”

There’s more where that came from too.

“Grab your favourite sweater, we're in for nasty weather”

If you were wondering about the timing, this album dropped on Trump’s inauguration day. Not sure if that’s deliberate or not, there’s nothing overt in the songs but you can always find a lingering darkness if you want. There’s a song called America, after all.

“And the movie girl said/You walked in on set/But you only play yourself, you're Hollywood.”

“And it all but seems my lifetime dreams have ended/And I know some people hope they won't come true”

“Well, we all spent time trying to make it/But you spent your money getting high

Well I know can make it back 'cause I'm only 25/And my friend, she's only 20

And she's an actress and so far/She said, you know, she said she can get me parts”

For a band that goes for as many wide-ranging sounds as this one, utilising the full orchestra of instruments, it’s pretty great how often there’s a perfectly timed flourish in there. For example the guitar feedback on Rise Up as the big switch happens. Such a badass moment, that one. The guitar licks in the background of On Lankershim are another favourite. Also: horn sections.

“If you see it then just sing a song for me”

One more thing, think of this as a PSA – this is a fairly intricate album which demands a fairly loud listening experience. Crank the volume up to 11 or else you’re missing the experience. To some degree that’s true of all music but I found this one loses an unusual amount of punch if you don’t let it dominate the speakers.

“How can I love you if I don't know who you are?”

For US$6.99 or more on their Bandcamp page you can buy the album in cassette form.

“It's time to wake up early

Start taking care of your health

And start doing all the hard things

And believe in yourself

And follow your own heart

If nothing else

And listen to your own dreams

Nobody else's will do, will do”

Finale

Like an expensive whiskey, Foxygen go best when coupled with that ol’ favourite: ‘moderation’. They already do more with a little than most do with a lot. All of those ideas and influences wear thin when stretched out too much but on Hang they get back to the brisk, cramming things in so tight you don’t have time to do anything but go along for the ride.

This is refreshing, a rewarding return to form for the band. Because of all the sleeve-worn influences it’s pretty unlikely they’ll ever chuck anything out there which’ll get modern classic status, this one is the same and there are a few things that hold Hang back… like the occasionally clunky lyrics for one.

Still, there’s nobody glamming it up quite like these dudes do and this record sustains itself on sheer ambition. It’s a trip, that’s for sure. Glad to see they’ve limited the excesses to where the excesses belong.

And here’s to all the flamingos.