Review Summary: butamightytastysandwich
It’s always interesting to hear an artist’s interpretation of life’s different binaries played out through their music. From philosophical concepts of light and dark, or good and evil, to scientific binaries like the insignificance of humans in the face of the vastness of space, this theme is a common writing tactic employed by artists of all mediums. With their sophomore release “notverynicecream” Phoxjaw opt for an exploration of one of the many binaries of the human condition. Where their debut
Royal Swan was a vibrant celebration of the wildness and weirdness of British culture,
notverynicecream sees the band peeling back some darker aspects of themselves. Topics of loneliness and isolation are presented delicately through the band’s trademark quirk and penchant for musical subtlety. “notverynicecream” is a loud and dissonant head-trip but never comes off as depressive in tone as the band’s brilliantly bizarre musical flourishes underneath its sweet and sour overtones undercut any potentially mawkish moods with a wink.
notverynicecream,” despite its tonal shift, both elevates and cements Phoxjaw’s unique formula. The eccentric instrumentation of
Royal Swan is both dialed up and diversified beautifully. Singer Daniel Garland’s vocals still ring reminiscent post-punk bands from yesteryear but as in the case in songs like “dancingtrees”, the band’s increased musical palette elevates their impact on each song. However, don’t mistake
notverynicecream’s flirtation with more musical styles and an indication of the boys going more “indie” or soft. What makes “notverynicecream” succeed so well is that these newfound adornments spice up what is a soul-crushingly heavy record at heart, particularly in its latter half. It’s at these points where the darker themes of “notverynicecream” are most in focus. It’s also at these points where Phoxjaw’s confidence as musicians becomes glaringly obvious due to the mastery of their hallucinogenic formula. The one-two punch of “Knives” and “thelastmackeral” are inescapably catchy while serving as low point thematically for the album. The guitars, continually laden with reverb, are unrelenting and hit with a tone so perfect the listener feels it in the pit of their stomach. The very next track “shotgunlipstick” throws one of
notverynicecream’s many curveballs intertwining the group’s hyperpop influence with their sound to fantastic effect. These balances Phoxjaw pull off with such great effect adds to a charisma that’s impossible to ignore.
There’s a lot thrown at you in
notverynicecream. The influences, from doom to hyperpop to sludge to noise rock are all present but with remarkable tastefulness and restraint from a band just two LPs into their career. How a song like “sungazer” and a song like “lastmancalledjohn” can exist on the same record and sound so natural is proof that Phoxjaw have got something special going on inside their weird British minds. If nothing else,
notverynicecream exhibits to listeners that acknowledging that sh
it sucks right now doesn’t mean that sh
it can’t rock right now. And I’m all for that.
