When an album comes ready for review promising it’s been produced by someone who has previously pushed the dials for Muse, Razorlight, Supergrass and Oasis, you can only approach it with a certain mix of expectation and trepidation. Unfortunately, trepidation is the right emotion for London four piece The Foxes’ debut ‘Last of Many’.
If Kurt Cobain had lived in a sheltered middle class suburb in the 60s, stayed off the brown stuff, and only had the b-sides of minor league 90s indie-pop bands to listen to, he might have written something like ‘Last of Many’. But not in a good way. The album is a confusing mix of 60s bubblegum indie-pop lite over the top of quasi-Britpop era melodies. It’s like listening to the soundtrack to every early 90’s c-list (at best) British comedy that you’ve never seen, the type of late night fare that misguided HMV managers call ‘cult’.
The album is a story of love found, so far so indie, but the lyrics are so painfully straight laced it’s almost satire. On ‘Sweet Little Wonder’, a supposed “catchy sure-fire hit and radio-friendly single” if the press blurb is to be believed, our musical Romeo sings to his beloved (the aforementioned sweet little wonder – see what they did there?) ‘I want you more than two blonde Swedish sisters’. Now imagine that being sung over a melody with the musical complexity of your average CBeebies jingle and you’ll start to get the picture. Things don’t generally get much better; the less said about album opener ‘Suzy’ the better, and the general impression is of a sixth form practice band trying out poetry coursework.
I’m not a bad man, really I’m not. I don’t want to crush anyone’s dreams of musical stardom. But such is the lacklustre appeal of ‘Last of Many’ that it’s hard to imagine any target market for it; it’s too retro and clean for the tween or teens, it’s lacks the melody or memorable hooks to get it onto a radio 2 playlist and even for the 90s indie-pop nostalgia heads, this record lacks any of the swagger, style or self belief that made early Oasis relevant.
There are brief moments of light. ‘The Sad Thing’ is a mournful (surprising with a title like that, huh?) stripped down acoustic blues riff that allows lead singer Nigel Thomas’ voice to shine through with much needed emotion, before the whole thing moves up a gear and there’s a full band final chorus crescendo. It’s the only time the band find a bit of range or variation to the ABAB song writing that permeates the rest of the album, and it’s by far the best song on the album.
I’m sure ‘Foxes’ are a bunch of lovely (cheeky) chaps that it would be just delightful to have at your mums for tea. ‘Last of Many’ will probably appeal to anyone whose idea of a good time is still listening to an Ocean Colour Scene/Bluetones/Shed Seven megamix ON FULL VOLUME BECAUSE IT’S ALL JUST SUCH BRILLIANT SONGWRITING. For the rest of us, within the context of a revivalist pub band the Foxes work fine, but in a world where Post-Dubstep and Witch House have become tired genres before the leading proponents can even get an album out, it’s hard not to see this album as just irrelevant.
Released December 05 2011 on Room 10 Records
Echo Rating (((?•)))
Posted by Sam Bacon
