Foxygen is the seven-year-old project of 22-year-olds Sam France (vocals) and Jonathan Rado (guitar/keys). Though the duo already has a back catalog eleven releases deep, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic is Foxygen’s big budget debut LP on the JAGJAGUWAR label. Last year JAGJAGUWAR released Foxygen’s excellent Take the Kids off Broadway EP to widespread acclaim, earning the band their fair share of buzz and a slot on tour with Of Montreal. Where Take the Kids was a Lo-fi collage of ‘60s/’70s glam, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic is a Hi-fi collage of ‘60s/’70s glam. The album is so in debt to its influences that it effectively transcends the label “throwback record,” instead becoming a collage of the band’s role models. The title, as long-winded as it is, says it all.
“In the Darkness” opens the record with gleaming Beatles harmonies over horn stabs lifted straight from “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The lyric “Without further ado/We’d like to introduce you/To the Darkness! (audience screams)” is all the evidence needed that Foxygen wants you to know who their heroes are. The next track, “No Destruction” is equal parts Highway 61-era Bob Dylan and Loaded-era Lou Reed. As the record plays on it’s thrilling to hear each section and point out “Hey! There’s Bowie/the Kinks/T. Rex/the Beatles/the Stones/the Velvets!” And it helps that France’s effected stutter sounds so eerily similar to Mick Jagger’s, he could be mistaken for Jagger’s ghost (oh wait, that guy’s still alive).
On top of all that, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic references every rock ‘n’ roll cliché in the book. The record is saturated with vapid “OH YEAH”s, “LA LA LA”s and “BABY”s to the point of being tiresome. Nowhere do the lyrics sound serious or thoughtful—like Pavement, sans a good sense of humor. Which is disappointing, considering lyrics were paramount to the artists Foxygen attempted to conjure.
But similarly to MGMT, Foxygen is able to channel these vintage sounds into endlessly catchy tunes packed dense with hooks. And like Ariel Pink, Foxygen’s grooves wander between time signatures, chord progressions, thoughts, ideas and contexts like an ADD kid off his meds. Although there are a couple throwaway tracks that seem to ramble on aimlessly (see “On Blue Mountain” and “Bowling Trophies”), the album never comes off as boring. It’s one of those records that appears jumbled at first, but richly rewards multiple listens.
We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic offers no significant stylistic or artistic changes from Take the Kids off Broadway EP. What it does offer is a higher production value courtesy of considerable Internet hype. All the grit and fuzz that enveloped the first EP has been washed away. And though Foxygen was no doubt due for a spit shine, they lost some of their aggressive tenacity by getting proverbial haircuts. WAt21CAoP&M is not a groundbreaking record, but it’s not supposed to be. What it is is a damn catchy listen; a chance to rock out a bit and move on.
Grade: B/C
