Foxy Shazam
The Heart Behead You


1.5
very poor

Review

by Mathias STAFF
February 15th, 2022 | 28 replies


Release Date: 2022 | Tracklist

Review Summary: No boner to conceal here.

The magic of Foxy Shazam is that they were able to make lyrics like “Life is a bitch, but she’s totally do-able” fun and playful and so totally sing-a-long-able, all contained within over-the-top, theatrical songs. The band was unhinged yet still polished, with the absurd lyrics a part of their modernized throwback arena rock package. In the hands of another band that didn’t toe that line as well, what they attempted could be awkward and uncomfortable to listen to. Unfortunately, with their newest release, Foxy Shazam have become awkward and uncomfortable to listen to. They've started their own record label and, while I don’t begrudge any band for taking their money into their own hands, the production on The Heart Behead You is among the worst I’ve heard on a professional album. The mixing is muddy, Eric Nally's (typically stunning) vocals are compressed, and every individual instrument sounds like it was recorded on an iPhone and then simply layered. There are no dynamics and no energy, which were the two things that made Foxy Shazam work. Even more frustrating is the fact that you can hear the pieces of the band’s grandiose modus operandi somewhere in there, but that sound will never work with this production job. Any band would be hard pressed trying to get away with a lyric like “Dancing with my demons/Trying to conceal my boner, but Foxy Shazam could have been the ones to make it work. It used to sound like they were in on the joke of how ridiculous their music was, but now they just sound like an ambitious, underfunded garage band. And no matter the ambition, when you hear a garage band sing about boners, you can’t help but feel both sad and a little creeped out.



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user ratings (23)
2.3
average


Comments:Add a Comment 
dmathias52
Staff Reviewer
February 15th 2022


1799 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

I have no idea how this album was released in the state that it is. 1.5 might be harsh because I think there is a good album in here (maybe even their best since their self-titled, which is an all-time favorite of mine), but this is painful to listen to and I could have argued giving it a 1 as easily as I could have argued giving it a 2.5. If this were their first album I might be a little nicer, but not when they're going on 20 years



Also never have never written a one paragraph review before, can confirm it's exhilarating

Comatorium.
February 15th 2022


5043 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Lol the drama in this review

dmathias52
Staff Reviewer
February 15th 2022


1799 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

Hey I live for the drama



Just ignore the fact that this is how I spent the night of Valentine’s Day pls

Comatorium.
February 15th 2022


5043 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

This band invites all the drama.



I’m getting stoned alone in Oregon listening to this and I don’t hate it. solidarity in half of that.

Get Low
February 15th 2022


14205 Comments


band has always sucked ass

Comatorium.
February 15th 2022


5043 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Nah and they still dont

Sinternet
Contributing Reviewer
February 15th 2022


26572 Comments


man what happened to this band they were so fun back in the day

ZackSh33
February 15th 2022


730 Comments


Their self titled was an easy 5, Church of Rock and Roll was fun too. Band's gone off a steep cliff in the worst way possible. Gonzo and Burn were also chock full of production issues and just really bad songwriting, so it's disappointing to hear that they've continued to get even worse.

dmathias52
Staff Reviewer
February 15th 2022


1799 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

This could have been a lot like their old stuff, but it just sounds amateur-ish. Their previous album had some of the worst production choices i’ve ever heard (listen to Dreamscape 2020 if you want to be confused), this just has overall bad production

ZackSh33
February 15th 2022


730 Comments


There was a song on Burn that literally had the worst audio issues I've ever heard, like the sound randomly dropping out for a measure? Not quite sure what the band is going for anymore

deathofasalesman
February 15th 2022


8634 Comments


i dig the one paragraph format. sucks this band can't climb back up from the pit they've found themselves in

Comatorium.
February 16th 2022


5043 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Foxygen is better anyways

dmathias52
Staff Reviewer
February 16th 2022


1799 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

I 100% did not expect this to get featured with that summary, but I’ll take it

TheNoodle
February 16th 2022


47 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

How the hell does an album with so many fun ideas end up feeling so hollow and lifeless? It sounds like nobody was really trying, and then anything remotely interesting on it was washed out in the final mix.

TheSpirit
Emeritus
February 16th 2022


30304 Comments


genuinely thought this band broke up

dmathias52
Staff Reviewer
February 16th 2022


1799 Comments

Album Rating: 1.5

Right @Noodle? Like a lot of thought clearly went into writing this, even if it’s debatable about those ideas being successful, but then it seems like no one cared about actually putting it together

@Spirit I think they did in 2014 and reunited in 2020

SublimeSound
February 16th 2022


105 Comments


These guys are still around? So sad to see them having fallen this far. They were such a breath of fresh air 10 years ago.

NorwichScene
February 16th 2022


3298 Comments


I’m a wannabe angel was a great song

davesthesay
February 16th 2022


91 Comments


I miss French Passion foxy.

SitarHero
February 17th 2022


14702 Comments


"Also never have never written a one paragraph review before, can confirm it's exhilarating"

I hope it becomes the norm tbh. This is a nice review too! Coulda maaaaybe been 2 paras though...because 2 small paras are much nicer to read than one big one.



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