Twee is one of those odd terms that tends to divide people: there are those who, like the child at school who ate nothing but Haribo, can't get enough of the weird stories, light, flimsy sounding instruments and melodies so sweet and sugary that listening to them runs the serious risk of developing diabetes. On the other hand, there are also those who, much like the aforementioned Haribo child immediately post his fourth bag of garishly coloured sweets, loaded with e-numbers and little else, feel the uncontrollable urge to projectile vomit at the merest listen of anything that goes near a Casio-toy keyboard.
I generally favour something that feels a bit more substantial, a little less self-consciously bizarre. However, in the spirit of "why not?" and because summer is upon us, I'm willing to give Foxes! and their new single "Who Killed Rob?" a go.
Soft, childlike spoken-word lyrics open proceedings, with the ever-so-slightly odd rhyming couplet of "Bicycle I loved you so/I guess he's metrosexual", before Adam Bell neatly places the cherry on top with "caught between two vehicles." Apparently it's a tale of Rob, the hero of the story, who gets knocked off his bike, ends up in hospital for five days (and four nights) and wakes up only to find that his parents have bought him a dog. So not the straight-out-of-Casualty storyline that you were expecting, eh? A simple Casio-tone riff, sounding like it has been plucked straight from the Penguin book of my first melodies, drives the three minutes of silliness. Kayla Bell's voice is very nice though, and at the twinkling mid-way interlude, she even comes close to opening out and soaring away from the sweetly whimsical story. Once past the halfway point, however, and Foxes! show that they have one or two tricks up (what I imagine to be) their brightly coloured shirt sleeves. The percussion suddenly shifts up a notch and choppy guitars, light on aggression but not lacking in dynamism, give the song a much-needed sense of urgency.
It's clear that the band have plenty of ideas. "Bunny Rabbits (Chip & Dale)" begins life with a simple guitar melody and Kayla's musings on the time her mother took her to the pet shop. The track is reminiscent of a "More Adventurous-era" Rilo Kiley, obviously with the guitars turned down, married to a Death Cab For Cutie-pop sensibility. Wisely, though, Foxes! steer clear of the emotive, broken-hearted whining, preferring instead to regale us with a rather sweet story of two childhood pet bunny rabbits, named, tellingly, despite the mammalian inaccuracy, Chip and Dale (the lovable, squeaky-voiced Disney chipmunks).
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The final b-side, "Albania", sees life in Eastern Europe dissected ("You weren't allowed to grow your face-hair/wear a seatbelt/or listen to ABBA") with equally energetic heart and no less verve. They pull off the power-pop sound well, and the whole thing is tight and well-delivered.
In a world where the big sellers of pop and rock music feel compelled to discuss heavyweight issues such as love, life, war and death, these endearingly silly takes on the dangers of cycling, family pets and Communism are pleasantly enjoyable.
The band, with a wry understanding of their own lunacy, display the same sense of the absurd and reluctance to sing about the usual boy/girl problems as another up and coming English power-pop group, the Victorian English Gentlemens Club [sic], albeit without the wild-eyed hysteria and struck-dog yelping.
With a playful sense to mix up time signatures, moods, instruments and stories and a highly intriguing, bordering on irritating, combination of well-rehearsed, toy-town pop, controlled garage-rock dynamism, and plain old English eccentricity, any fans of Belle & Sebastian, Celestial and the aforementioned VEGC could do worse than give Foxes! a go.
http://www.myspace.com/foxesfoxesfoxes
http://asketchforsummer.googlepages.com/artistpage2
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