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Music

Here's Why Foxygen Doesn't Suck

Here's why I think you should stop being a douche and give Foxygen a chance.

You can read Drew's side of the story right here. He's wrong though.

About a half hour ago I was smoking a cigarette with a buddy (who gifted me some a birthday present in the form of scrumptious Kellogg's Fruit Snacks, mixed berry flavor--thanks Thomas!). We started talking about the music we'd listened to this weekend, and I told him how I'd finally gotten into Foxygen. I had initially decided to avoid this band like H1N1, because they literally have the worst band name I've ever heard.

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When I got back inside, I casually asked the Noisey editorial staff if they were into Foxygen or not, which will go down as my biggest regret of the day. The second I said the band's name, the entire staff made that weird Tim Allen "errryoup?" sound and started berating me on how awful Foxygen is. All of a sudden I felt like Bertolt Brecht in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities. So I decided to face off against Drew Millard, who sits across from me and, I should note, wears backwards tie-dyed hats and Trukfit, which immediately invalidates anything he might say about phenomena on planet earth.

Now keep in mind: I don't think that Foxygen is as good as Kraftwerk or anything. I just think they don't suck. Here's why I think you should stop being a dick and give them a chance. You can read Drew's angry, caustic, illegitimate response right here, but before you go any further, check out this cute video for "San Francisco."

Yes, I know this sounds like the Kinks. The crux of Drew et al.'s argument was that Foxygen is derivative of bands like the Kinks, the Stones, Dylan, Merseybeat-period Beatles, etc. First of all, I know for a fact that these millenial-ass editors don't pay attention to anything recorded before My Chemical Romance, so they don't even understand the references they're using. Secondly, they just aren't getting the humor.

First off, you can't name a record "We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic" and not have a killer sense of humor. It's that referencing of over-earnest flower-power buoyancy and heart-on-sleeve stoner utopianism that seems so out of place in 2013. That's got to be a joke, and it's hilarious.

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The referencing of past artists is extremely funny as well: around the three minute mark of "No Destruction," singer Sam France breaks into a pitch-perfect Mick Jagger impersonation over a lilting Hammond Organ that's straight out of "Like a Rolling Stone." These nods don't come off as internalized influences as much as direct impersonation, a la Jim Meskimen. The first time I heard it I busted out laughing.

This sparked a brief and ill-advised conversation about what "cult" means. The way I see it, there are two kinds of "cult" figures. There are those who set out to be cult figures (James Franco, Neil Hamburger) by violating certain established codes of artistic address. Then there are those that are revalued by an active fanbase who assigns new meaning to their body of work. Gays have probably done a better job than any group at revaluing old figures, and that's why Judy Garland, Joan Rivers, and Barbara Streisand are well known today.

Fingers crossed for my argument, I'm thinking Foxygen are going out there trying to reference classic rock as a sort of campy art project. That's what John Waters was doing, and why his early movies are so empowering: his characters act like old Hollywood stars when in reality they're weirdo trannies in Baltimore. In other words, Foxygen are the weirdo trannies of hippy-dippy indie rock. In a good way.

Drew et al were made extremely uncomfortable by a certain Pitchfork interview in which the band is obviously not taking themselves seriously at all. In fact, if Drew could read sentences that are longer than a tweet, he'd see that they preemptively anticipate his type of response:

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Sam Frank: "I've seen some tweets and shit that are like, 'Fuck Foxygen, those fucking hipsters!' or 'You motherfuckers with your little twee bullshit.' I mean, yeah, we put a fucking xylophone on 'San Francisco.' I don't really blame anybody, because if I saw the 'San Francisco' video, I'd probably be like, 'That guy looks like a fucking clown idiot imbecile asshole, what the fuck is going on there? This sucks-- it just sounds like some 60s bullshit and looks like Wes Anderson.' But that's the point. We're trying to bring a little fun, a little color."

Why you mad, Drew? That's the thing about these guys: they are being funny, and the value in their music is that push and pull between playful sincerity and earnest sarcasm.

Look, I can't win on the subject of their name: it's terrible. But look, they came up with it when they were 13, and they stuck with it, which actually shows a degree of strength of character.

SLAM DUNK: At the end of the day I'm enjoying this band immensely, listening to their records and enjoying myself after lunch. Drew is just pissed off, maniacally refreshing livemixtapes.com all day, so I pretty much win no matter which side you're on.

Unlike Drew, Ben has actually played music in his life, and understands it as more than just a lifestyle. He's also got almost 1,000 more friends on Facebook than Drew. You can follow him on Twitter here - @b_shap