We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic
The debut full-length release from the duo of Sam France and Jonathan Rado—a.k.a. Foxygen—is exactly what we\'d been hoping for. In 2011, Foxygen unleashed the EP *Take the Kids Off Broadway*, which encouraged careful and gleeful discovery, layer by layer, revealing two talented guys with an uncanny skill for harvesting the past in order to nurture the future. On *We Are*, they further refine their methods. Lou Reed, The Kinks, and The Beatles all flavor the outstanding \"No Destruction\" and \"In the Darkness\" (we\'ll let you discover the configurations). The title track is an ultra-cool \'60s rocker with a touch of Elvis (or Suicide, take your pick), and \"Shuggie\" is a perfect hybrid of contemporary indie pop, Neil Diamond, and vintage soul. \"Oh Yeah\" is what The Jackson Five might\'ve sounded like had they been produced by Richard Swift (the production guru here). The smooth genre-splicing that deftly glues together \"On Blue Mountain\" is genius; fat bass lines and Elton John piano notes downshift into sultry, late-night meandering. Then vintage organs and shiny choruses rise to a blissful finish in a rush of chaotic guitar squalls. Did we use the word \"genius\" yet?
'We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic' is a precocious and cocksure joyride across California psychedelia with a burning, bursting punk rock engine. In the same year as Scott McKenzie the singer of "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" leaves this mortal coil, Foxygen delivers unto us the dandy Glockenspiel-packing "San Francisco," which both circumvents and dissects McKenzie's tune and its many cousins of the era. "I left my love in San Francisco/(That's okay, I was bored anyway)/I left my love in a field/(That's okay, I was born in LA)" goes the lovely call-and-response chorus, slamming together the archetypal flower children of the 60s and the archetypal ADHD vapidity of our recent generations. Another highlight, "Shuggie," manages to fit all the light bounce of the song's namesake and the climbing choruses of ELO into it's 3 minutes while still filling the tune with imagery of "rhinoceros-shaped earrings" and haunted parlors. Every nook and cranny of the record is loaded with their unflappable, brazen personalities. Foxygen takes "swagger," that as-of-late misused adjective, back once and for all. It's flipping pyramids old and new upside down — from the miracle demo hand-off to their Richard Pryor-as-Jagger live shows to their singular idiosyncratic vision of rock n' roll.
The L.A. duo's second album seems to be reporting from three simultaneous decades of rock history. But having a great record collection and having some idea what to do with it are two different things, and on W**e Are The Ambassadors Foxygen have internalized enough of the music they love to start toying with it.
Although hit and miss, where it gels the band deliver sexy rock'n'roll, just like they made back in the day.
The sooner you fumble your way through the unruly title of Foxygen’s latest LP, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of…
Sam France and Jonathan Rado—the young duo behind Foxygen—have a wealth of ideas running through their heads, and probably two sweet-ass record collections.
This fresh-faced duo's second album is a bold and cheerful retro orgy, writes <strong>Kitty Empire</strong>