‘Foxing’, the self-titled fifth album from St. Louis math rockers finds the quartet ‘finding comfort in their own chaos’.
‘Secret History’ opens with plenty of distortion, feedback and falsetto as Conor Murphy sings about how ‘They pissed on your dreams’. Halfway through there’s a demand to ‘make your mother proud’ amidst some healthy screams. Recent single ‘Hell 99’ follows with the same kind of intensity – although this time with glorious nods to nu-metal. ‘Split’ is more brooding and slow to start with – ‘There’s smoke in the air, let me breathe it in’ – before the 8-minute ‘Greyhound’ takes you on a psych-inspired journey.
‘Cleaning’ has an experimental opening with interludes reminiscent of The Antlers’ ‘Hospice’ while ‘Barking’ harks back to Foxing’s ‘Nearer My God’ album with powerful drums and anguished words – with a touch of dark humour: ‘Kentucky McDonald’s, a violent reminder of you’. ‘Gratitude’ has a Three Trapped Tigers-style intro before moving into a more traditional alt-rock sound, complete with one essential demand: ‘I wanna live my life like a memory’.
‘Dead Internet’ has a kind of DIY feel, complete with chimes that wouldn’t be out of place on an 8-bit video game, while ‘Hall of Frozen Heads’ has a more relaxed intro with piano drifting through before gorgeous guitar hooks underlay the words ‘There’s a good boy’. The closing ‘Cry Baby’ is a bittersweet tale of love overcoming regret: ‘If I could start over again. It’s been fun but I’d change everything but there’s you smiling when I come home’.
With ‘Foxing’, the band of the same name have smashed it out of the park – it’s emotional, exciting and exceptional.