The Automatik

Vinyl Countdown, 2004

Every true rock writer dreams of discovering some diamond in the rough, some bright, shining star amidst the endless mounds of crap that swell the walls of their post office boxes. When you find it, it’s damn near impossible to explain how you can see so much potential in the missed beats or slightly hesitant vocals, except to say that it just makes you feel good. And so it is with The Foxx, a cleverly titled four piece from New Mexico, three guys and a girl who remind us that rock ‘n’ roll was the bastard son of blues after all.

Now don’t go getting all hot and bothered with visions of the next White Stripes; this band is way cooler than that. They don’t really sound like anyone except themselves, although you can see snippets of their influences in the Teenage Rampage of “Landslide” or the Dusty Springfield-esque “Sad Desperation.” “Last Phonecall” is like a throwback to the Kinks with its fuzzed-out guitars and pounding drums, while “The Ballad of Buddy Holly” is practically goosebumps-making, grooving like old Bowie. The catchy and clever “Bands (Don’t Want me to Dance)” pleads to be a single.

The Foxx have a lot going for them: the wonderful irony of Isaac’s flat vocals and Juliet’s soulful wail; the awesome rhythm section; surprisingly complex song structures; and intriguing lyrics. One is compelled to be interested in a band who throws around words like “collusion” and “ardor” without sounding pretentious; conversely, the line I wanna kiss you in a teenage heat is swollen with primal promise. If there was anything to complain about it would be that they seem almost tentative about everything, which they certainly should not be, because they have got IT, their own unique sound that sticks in your head and your heart long after the CD’s out of the stereo.

Lester Bangs once complained that the problem with most music was that people mistakenly believed that technical excellence had anything whatsoever to do with rock ‘n’ roll, that it was about “emotion delivered in its most powerful and direct in whatever form”. Apparently, The Foxx gets it, and for that we can all breathe sighs of relief and thanks.