Foxygen: We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic

In the midst of freezing temperature and little daylight, Foxygen’s “We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic” is a glimpse of a warm summer night, despite the mouthful of a title.

After receiving Pitchfork’s title of Best New Track for “No Destruction,” Foxygen set a high bar for themselves to meet. This duo lets their laidback California attitudes shine through on this nine-track album and proves that 2013 may have potential to live up to the standards set by 2012.

From Bloomington’s own label Jagjaguwar, Foxygen looks back to sounds of bygone eras. The band clearly shows influences from artists of the 60s and when vocalist Sam France moans out “there’s no need to be an asshole” in “No Destruction,” he effortlessly delivers these jabs in the drawl of a young Bob Dylan.

This is an album Lou Reed, Paul McCartney and Dylan could’ve released had they been born a few decades later.

As the album progresses to “Shuggie” and “Oh Yeah,” the songs jump a few decades and resemble more closely Devendra Banhart’s endearing freak folk. The smooth psychedelic undertones, however, can only be credited to The Beatles.

Yet while the album pulls heavily on sounds of times past, nothing about it sounds old.
Songwriters Sam France and Jonathan Rado deliver lyrics that innocently mock the carefree attitudes of 60s youth and the result is an album that sounds fresh. They sing of California — as well as the locals’ favorite illegal pasttime — with its innocent and not-so-sweet love. And while “No Destruction” and “Shuggie” don’t tell stories of successful relationships, the songs travel along in the nonchalant spirit of a flower child.

Only toward the end of the album does the duo feel out of control when they delve further into freak folk and psychadelia, losing the easeful tone that held the album together. Foxygen closes the album with “Oh No 2,” a track full of nonsensical lyrics and eerie voice-overs that slowly progress to controlled chaos.

At the end of the song, the duo quickly pulls together the clamor with a harmonious piano melody that makes you forget about the awkward noise preceding it. After a quick 36 minutes, the album seems to end just after beginning.

“We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic” may be one of the first albums of 2013, but it’s an album we’ll keep coming back to all year.