foxygen - we are the 21st century ambassadors of peace & Magic

Foxygen

We are the 21st century ambassadors of peace & magic
Jagjaguwar; 2013

4 out of 5

So let me get this straight? You're going to take bits of early Rolling Stones, The Kinks circa Village Green, the more melodic side of the Velvet Underground, and put it into a blender with a scoop of Belle of Sebastian, a sprinkle of girl-group motown, with a dollop of Jonathan Richman, and you're going to BLEND THIS REALLY WELL, while putting your own spin on it?

And this record is going to be called WE ARE THE 21ST CENTURY AMBASSADORS OF PEACE & MAGIC?

Uh, yes please.

This might be the first indie rock album title ever that I ever agreed with. If this is the future of indie rock, we're heading in a pretty awesome direction. Biting hooks, call-and-response, 60's clap along, snarkily sharp lyrics, snap, sugar, and groove. These songs actually have melodies. And there's not a bad one in the bunch. Besides the aforementioned artists, there are echoes of Supergrass, T-Rex, The Last Shadow Puppets, Pete Doherty, The Cramps--basically, everything fine and nice. But they're not content being copy cats--this band has cut a short and sweet record that leaves quite an impression. This band is tight, and knows what they're doing.

Worth every penny. Thank you Foxygen!