Foxygen are the Los Angeles songwriting duo of Jonathan Rado and Sam France, and it’s officially official: I want to be their friend. Although, in many ways, I already feel like I am. Foxygen’s debut album– the impossibly silly yet perfectly titled We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic– feels just as real, comforting, and honest as any true friendship could. 
Upon first listen of We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic, I started laughing, but probably only to stop myself from crying– it’s that good. If you’re a worshipper of nostalgia, a purveyor of all things past, or just a lover of good, old fashioned rock n’ roll, then Foxygen’s debut is simply, utterly, irresistible. When Sam France sings “We’re the 21st Century, gonna kick your ass, boy,” from above the throbbing, garage-rock beat of the album’s title track, it feels like an outright lie. Each song on We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic is a masterfully-crafted homage to the classic sounds which preceded it; a virtual dip into the biggest and best record collection imaginable.
How Foxygen manage to sound so authentically vintage, yet still modern, is simply beyond me. For someone who didn’t know better, “No Destruction” could be the product of a young Mick Jagger at one moment, solo Lou Reed the next. From between a melodic, enveloping chorus, verses spin bizarre tales of smoking pot on the subway, sipping milkshakes in hotel lobbies, and alien invasions. “There’s no need to be an asshole, you’re not in Brooklyn anymore,” was a lyric that instantly had me grinning from ear-to-ear.
Hold on tight for “On Blue Mountain,” a semi-religious epic that definitely elicits more spiritual feeling than I’ve felt in any church. The track’s groovy chorus echoes “Suspicious Minds” close enough to know that the clever nod to Elvis isn’t just a coincidence. “San Francisco” is a happy, classic ditty, yet still manages to adopt a playful, contemporary attitude. “I left my love in San Francisco,” France sings, only to receive the cheerful response of “That’s okay, I was bored anyway/That’s okay, I was born in L.A.”
The latter half of We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic continues Foxygen’s determined march towards greatness, however, the album quits just before ambition can get the better of it (track nine, “Oh No,” marks its conclusion). Receive a full blast of Bowie on the sentimental “Shuggie,” then a sassy salute to Paul Simon with the way France sings “feeling groovy” near the end of the brass, buoyant “Oh Yeah.”
What is it with you, 2013? It’s only January, but it’s starting to feel like so many great new albums, so little time. We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic could be the very best one yet, and that’s saying something. On Foxygen’s stellar debut, there are no genres. There are no definitions. There’s simply the music, and that’s always been enough.
4 / 5 bars
