Review Summary: Uninspired and messy.
As much of a perceived trainwreck Foxygen has become, it's hard to deny that releasing a double album does not do much to help their reputation. The meltdowns, the cancellations, the absolute chaos this band has brought upon itself all seems to be stuffed into this 82-minute experiment, and the results seem to be what would be expected. While there are some gems hidden here, the overall feel of the record seems uninspired and messy.
For the most part, this album appears to be attempting to achieve a similar feel of their debut,
Take the Kids Off Broadway, in contrast to the critically-acclaimed followup
We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic. True opener "How Can You Really" and its following track "Coulda Been My Love" stands alone as anything that could remotely sound close to their second album in terms of the relative polish of their second album’s production, and it's notably two of the strongest tracks here; though, the former clearly channels the work of Todd Rundgren, almost to the point of plagiarism. "Cosmic Vibrations" relentlessly jumps around from almost tranquil verses to an exciting finish, and while the four-part "Star Power I-IV" goes about itself without a cohesive theme to legitimately tie the four parts together, have some strong points, particularly in "Star Power III: What Are We Good For" and "Star Power IV: Ooh Ooh."
That definitely is not to say this album doesn't come without its weak spots, and they are certainly spread throughout the album. In general, the album feels inconsistent and thrown together, specifically during the second half of the double album. Songs like "Hot Summer" and "The Game" appear as lacking in a good idea for a song, a common theme throughout the record, and on top of that, Foxygen throws in a 6-minute noise piece ("Cold Winter/Freedom") in the middle of all of the mediocrity, which only grates on my already-bored ears. Even with “Brooklyn Police Station”, “Everyone Needs Love”, and the closer “Hang” breaking up the monotony with decent melodies and relatively solid songwriting, it still seems as though Foxygen didn't put any effort into their instrumental performances for half of these numbers. There is quite simply no energy on songs like "Freedom II" and "Can't Contextualize My Mind".
So, overall, it's a mediocre, uninspiring mesh of tracks. Most tracks here are straight up void of a good idea or hook, and the band itself sounds bored out of their minds on their performances. There are a few standouts here and there, but Foxygen has put together a double album that feels way longer than it should.
