Review Summary: Out of control; Eric Nally is a beast
To put it in vocalist Eric Nally’s words “heavy metal sucks and rock and roll is dead.” This is precisely why Foxy Shazam appears to feel the need to combine parts of both genres, along with a dash of zaniness, to comprise one of the more unique albums of the 21st century. The group, which formed in high school on the platform of being the only piano-powered post-hardcore band in the world, has all the right elements to create a great album- powerful vocals, fun breakdowns, expert musicianship- but often find themselves getting too caught up in the act on their debut album The Flamingo Trigger.
The act that they can’t seem to escape is something like Shakespeare’s A Comedy of Errors. With every passing scene, the craziness and confusion is upped until the play crumbles under its own weight. The same can be said of The Flamingo Trigger. The album is front-loaded with really powerful, loud tracks and one keeps wondering if it’s possible for them to keep it up throughout the entire album. The answer is, unfortunately, no. The opening tracks keep on upping the ante until they finally peek at “The Aroma of You”- a song featuring the lyrics “How about I piss in your butthole/about I admire your eyes. At this point, it’s impossible for the band to continue the momentum with a louder, faster, more ridiculous song than they’ve already made. Songs placed near the end of the album, such as bass heavy “Brains of Vegas,” suffer from being less frenetic and interesting as the ones on the first half of the record. In this way, Foxy Shazam fails at creating the grand finale that they should’ve concocted; the grand finale was wasted at the start of the show.
This isn’t to say that the show isn’t an impressive one anyway, because it is in places. Buoyed largely by the presence of Nally, one of the most talented vocalists in the post-hardcore scene, each song has a different dynamic from the previous one. Whether he is crooning, as on “October Surf Suitcase Fish,” screaming on “Across the Golden Field,” or providing the spoken word bridge to “No! Don’t Shoot!,” Nally is everywhere on record, making his impact with every word that leaves his mouth. It’s very clear that he’s the centerpiece of the band and is really the only consistent piece of the group as a whole. His contributions bring excitement and energy to the group and his lyrics are light and jokey, yet fit the atmosphere of the album very well. Everything that Nally says on the album is either nonsensical (Ee-Ooh-Ah-Biggidy-Biggidy-Boo) or a joke in itself (his Richard Nixon sampling pre-chorus on “No! Don’t Shoot!) but has mastered the delivery to make every word fit into the context of the song. Eric Nally makes waves on the album, but is really the only one in the group to do so.
Meanwhile, the piano, bass and guitar vie for attention in the background. The result is a cacophony of jumbled up time signatures with a somewhat consistent drumbeat trying to keep every other instrument in line. A perfect example of this is in the breakdown of “No! Don’t Shoot!,” where the signature china cymbal of the drums are overshadowed by pianist Sky White slapping his hand against the piano. This arrangement not only lacks direction, but also sounds bad. Although the musicians, all of whom are quite talented- bassist Daisy in particular seems to shine above the rest of the crowd- none of them are allowed to make a particular impact. Despite the promise that the piano drives the music, the only songs where this is evident are on “October Surf Suitcase Fish” and “The French Passion Animaity Opera” and the remaining songs appear to be driven by pure noise. This is another area in which the album falls short: there is no clear supporting actor to Nally’s obvious lead.
In essence, this album is a melting pot of high energy and emotions without the necessary guidance to make a knockout record. Nally’s vocals, which are extremely strong and varied, are failed by his talented support staff that hasn’t yet learned its place. What could’ve been a very strong album leaves you with mixed feelings about the group, but with the overwhelming sense of potential overshadowing all negative thoughts.
