Fox Face - End of Man [BLACK VINYL] – New Vinyl

NEW DIRTNAP!!!  THE FIRST DIRTNAP RELEASE OF 2021.  

holy fuck, holy fox face, this album rips, ripped out my brain and made my day, scraped my brain from my skull and slapped it on a platter, red and black swirl indeed, stick my head in that batter and call me baked, slap a bow on my ass and call it an early Christmas, these women are obviously not messing around, the goods have been delivered, teeth fang and claw, once bitten twice delighted, welcome to the planet of Fox Face, this is obviously their world, and I'm just happy I get to live on it.  While the bands of Dirtnap have carved out a sound all their own that has influenced punk bands of many nations (and maybe even aliens on other planets), copied by many and admired by countless, the punk of the 1970s obviously provided a healthy dose of the inspiration, but this one from Fox Face also takes some cues from other settings, a decade earlier for example, from folks like MC5, Blue Cheer and Black Sabbath, all those bands that helped slam shut the past and open up the better parts of the world to come, and this album also seems to take some cues from bands of the later part of the 1980s, ones that slammed aside the heavily produced buttrock and pomp rock of that era like Aunty Entity on an old Mack truck ripping through a subdivision, especially many elements from riot grrrl bands for example, and from many of the best female-fronted bands of the last three decades of the 20th century, ones that kicked it out with a get-dick-and-fuck-you-too attitude.  As the sleeve art suggests this is a monster from the Rust Belt, impossible to ignore as it thunders into your eardrums, driving riffs into the punk rock, lifting it up on a bottom thick as plate iron and powering forward, shaking like an earthquake.  Take cover, a big one is coming.  -- Winch (green noise records)  

Artist:Fox Face

Title: End Of Man

Street Date: 01/22/2021

Catalog Number: ZZZ-163

Track List:

1. Vessels

2. SWF

3. Slow Burn

4. Luminol

5. Fan The Flames

6. Johnson Death Farm

7. There’ll Be Some Changes Made

8. Haunt You

9. We Do Nothing

10. Not Your Home

11. End Of Man

12. Reprise

Description:

Thinking about a fox face may give many of us warm, fuzzy feelings. But don’t forget that foxes have teeth. While Milwaukee quartet Fox Face may not bite your face, their new album End of Man might just melt it off.  Featuring players drawn from various corners of the Brewtown music scene, Fox Face came together organically ahead of the recording sessions for their November 2017 debut album, Spoil + Destroy. Main songwriter Lindsay DeGroot (The Olives) started working on her songs with multi-instrumentalist Lydia Washechek (Static Eyes). Eventually fellow Olives member Mary Hickey joined up on bass, and the final piece of the band was found with the addition of drummer Christopher Capelle (Midwest Beat, Long Line Riders). Spoil + Destroy was one of the best garage punk albums of 2017-2018, taking on science deniers, misogynists and other jerks with songs anchored by fiery guitar playing and rock-solid ensemble playing. End of Man, set for release January 22nd 2021, on now Milwaukee-based Dirtnap Records, bumps up the furious guitar sound of Spoil + Destroy a few more notches. It’s not hard rock, per se but the album’s sound edges in that direction. And you can tell that Fox Face has been playing together for several years because these recordings are tight AF. There’s no filler or padding; the arrangements and playing make for a cohesive whole, and lyrically the songs are direct and to the point while still remaining universal enough to be met on personal terms by the listener.

The songs again are again mostly provided by DeGroot, but everyone brought lyrics and music to the party. (Capelle instigated the album’s one cover, a reinvention of the Ethel Waters number “There’ll Be Some Changes Made,” recorded for Milwaukee Record’s Public Domain series.) The songs speak to our current fraught climate in both outward- and inward-looking ways. It’s necessary to call out the stomping title track as the best song Black Sabbath never wrote. Beyond that: Listen to the album, and let your ears find the songs on your own terms.

End of Man may not be a party record … at least, once you let the lyrics filter past your lizard brain enjoyment of the blazing riffs. But art is not supposed to be all fun and games. Standing up and speaking truth may not be the easiest path for a band or its listeners, but there is much to be said for cathartis. Anyone feeling despair and helplessness about our current political and societal breakdown should find some common ground to rage along with these new songs from Fox Face.

Follow up to 2017’s well-received debut LP, Spoil + Destroy

Named one of Rolling Stone’s best live bands they saw at SXSW 2018.

Members of Midwest Beat, The Olives, International Datelines, Gut Reactions, and more.

Comes with 320 kps download coupon.

Witchy, twitchy and full of attitude, Fox Face is a fog-swirling, moonlit night where nothing’s as it seems. Blink, and they answer the question you didn’t even know you had. Both realized and reckless, Fox Face is an eerie musical force that would be just as much at ease holding a seance on a stormy, nighttime beach as they would be throwing a rager in a dark, beer-soaked basement bar.

Lead guitarist and vocalist Lindsay DeGroot is as comfortable in a Riot Grrrl shout in as she is in the snarl of “I Believe In Science”, ambidextrously managing both pissed off and creepy, twisting like knives into her enemies. Fox Face’s explicitly feminist lyrics are undeniably bolstered by no-bullshit politics.

Fox Face alternates between Sabbath-y vs. searing guitars, surf-rock and the creeped-out, organ-laced sonic seance.  That realized and reckless attitude hangs hard on the vocals of everyone throughout, echoing the spirit of Kathleen Hanna and Neighborhood Brats’ Jenny Angelillo. This is what would happen if the Shivvers’ Jill Kossoris got pissed off and started plotting revenge on the date who didn’t call her back on the “teen line”, sitting “by the phone waiting for your ring”.

Fed up, Fox Face takes their own issues to hand, whether battling anti-feminist attitudes, panic attacks or the fear of the earthly unknown. Spaghetti Western styles intermingle with punk & roll and goth, making for a bubbling pot of riled-up, creeptastic tales, where the environs are trepidatious, dark and frustrating, yet you feel you can battle your way out.

RIYL: Grass Widow, Neighborhood Brats, The Sonics, The Breeders, Bikini Kill, The Cramps, The Raincoats, Sleater-Kinney

Rolling Stone’s 30 Best Artists We Saw At SXSW:

The myth of South By Southwest is that it’s possible to stumble into any venue and discover a terrific new act. In practice, this doesn’t always happen, so when it does it provides a revitalizing jolt. Such was the case with Fox Face, a Milwaukee-based punk band. The quartet isn’t precious with their melodies, bludgeoning them with guitars that threaten to outpace the careening drums. Underneath that noise, there are well-composed songs, but the appeal of Fox Face is that they spit out hooks so rapidly that they seem almost careless. It’s affectless, unadorned punk, and its appeal is that does have an unassuming Midwestern charm: They’re not attempting to be the next big thing, they’re just making a racket, and that in itself is intoxicating. S.T.E.

NEW NOISE MAGAZINE:

Milwaukee’s very own Fox Face is proud to share a fierce feminist jammer in their debut release Spoil + Destroy. The 12 tracks bounce around with everything from surf rock, punk, to bits of doom-like distortion. Opening track “(What You’re) Good For” explodes with upbeat party vibes. The surf rock aura makes itself known in the bright guitar twang and high tempo drum work. The vocals coast along with the pleasant aura, while also adding an aggressive edge to the track.

Spoil + Destroy does a tremendous job of presenting an overall fun atmosphere. Whether the band is taking a song’s lyrics in a serious or playful direction, the result is always a banger that pumps away with pure adrenaline and liveliness. The sound certainly honors that of acts like Bikini Kill, The Coathangers, and Sleater-Kinney. There might be one track where the band comes off innocent and all about having fun, and in the next track they amp up the volume to 11, ripping away with their instrumentation and belting with rage. “Clever Girl” begins with a Black Sabbath-like doom tone, quickly shifting into a more upbeat banger that whips back and forth. “(You’re Gonna) Wish You Were Dead” plays with this exact same formula, but still presents an entertaining air with its poppy distortion. “Boogie Man” shakes things up by beating away the drums, and unleashing a wild and fiery blend of rhythms and melodies.

“Nasty Woman” honors the upbeat instrumentation heard so far throughout the album, leaning more towards the aggressive side of things. Even though the instrumentals are enjoyable and a blast to hear, the elements that make them become very common. It isn’t a bad repetitive nature, for the album never comes off as boring thanks to just how enjoyable and intense it plays out. The lyricism also adds an extra layer to each song, with some tracks playing to a tongue-in-cheek attitude, with others being more direct in their political themes. Examples of these lyrics range from, “Watch out this pussy will bite you back!” (from “Nasty Woman”) to “I believe / In research/rationality” (from “I Believe In Science”). This mix keeps the overall music fresh and catchy with each new song, giving the listener something to constantly enjoy.

Spoil + Destroy is an excellent start for Fox Face, and a strong testament in regards to their talent. An excellent presentation of rockin’ instrumentation that will lure listener’s in with its catchiness and aggression, along with lyrics that will get your blood pumping with a warrior spirit, make Spoil + Destroy a thrilling album that jams away from beginning to end.

PUNK ROCK THEORY:

Milwaukee’s Fox Face recently released their debut album “Spoil + Destroy” via Dirtnap Records and as soon as you hear the explosive, surf-y opening track “(What You’re) Good For”, you know this is going to be a banger.

Influenced by the likes of Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney, guitarist/vocalist Lindsay DeGroot’s feminist lyrics go hand in hand with her Riot Grrrl shout while the rest of the band excels at whipping up a noisy mess that sounds as reckless as it does calculated. They show a different side of themselves in the creepy, Cramps-like “Hiawatha” while “Clever Girl” starts off with some Sabbath-like doom and gloom and The Pixies are not too far away in “I Believe In Science”.

The best thing about Fox Face is that they manage to take all these different influences and mold them into a cohesive, exciting album. And it gets even better when they cram everything together in a song like “Nasty Woman,” which comes with a surf-y riff, punk rock grit, a whole lot of attitude and an overall atmosphere that is equal parts fun and aggression. It’s pretty much a flawless track, which is why it’s a bit of a shame that it is followed by “Toxic,” which sounds more like the idea for a song rather than the actual thing and the not so interesting “The Moon And The Tide”.

Overall though, there is not a lot wrong with “Spoil + Destroy,” an album that serves as a mighty fine introduction to Fox Face.

“I think when we started out, I was drawing a lot more from the bands I’d been in in the past,” DeGroot says. “I was used to playing a lot poppier, brighter-sounding stuff, but a year or two ago, we started writing darker songs; songs that were a little more sophisticated with key changes and time changes, and then went from there.”

Fox Face’s new music took on a more political edge, with lyrics that lashed out at the patriarchy and its enablers, as well as looming, leering men and the condescension they subject women to daily (women who play music perhaps more than most). DeGroot found the songs started coming even easier than the lighter ones she’d been writing before. “I tend to write better when I’m bothered by something,” she says.

Of course, something else happened about a year ago that also contributed to the raw-edge: Donald Trump’s election—a previously almost unthinkable worst-case scenario that instantly echoed throughout the music world. It’s hard to overstate the impact Trump’s election had on music. Suddenly even bands that hadn’t had much use for politics became outspoken activists, and women in particular leapt to the frontlines, since the stakes are even higher for them.

“As a band full of women, we’ve had different experiences than the men writing during this same time,” DeGroot says. “We feel it a little different, because things like healthcare will affect us a lot more than men. It’s not that the issues we write about weren’t happening before. We were thinking about them before Trump. They’re just way more present now.”

sexism, subjugation, sexual assault… While the subjects that Fox Face address may be depressing, the music itself is anything but. Spoil + Destroy is a feminist album, but first and foremost it’s a punk album, and a great one at that, animated with sharp hooks, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and an infectious sense of mischief. The band loves all things witchy, so there’s a little bit of that in there too.  Though it can feel like a burdensome double standard, DeGroot says she doesn’t mind discussing issues like sexual assault. She’s passionate about them. She’s good at it. Still, she admits, she sometimes thinks about how much easier it would be playing in an apolitical band.

“I saw Andrew W.K.—my boyfriend’s band opened from them—and the whole show was all party, party, party,” she says, jealously. “And I was like, ‘Oh man, could you imagine if that was all you had to think about? ‘We’re going to do this party, then we’re going to do that party and then that party!’ It’d be so great!”