Foxygen: …And Star Power

Ryan Reed on November 4, 2014

Foxygen principals Jonathan Rado and Sam France are sonic pranksters, stoned students of the pop-rock pastiche. …And Star Power, their rambling sophomore LP, amplifies the tongue-in-cheek zaniness of their hipster smash debut—sending up Motown grooves and Dylan whine and Jagger bark and Flower Power psychedelia, mingling lo-fi genre exercises like watercolors in one idiotic finger-painting. All this silliness could (almost should) add up to winking bullshit. But most of these songs are engaging despite their obnoxiousness—mostly because Rado and France know the musical architecture of the genres that they spoof. “How Can You Really” is a soul-pop exercise that’s barely in tune and rarely in time, but its drunken brass and dorky croons make the sloppiness feel charming; “Everyone Needs Love” is a sparkling psych-pop nugget, boosted by a Flaming Lips cameo. Throughout its 83 messy minutes, Star Power raises a number of intriguing questions—like “Can a song be so ugly it’s beautiful?”

Artist: Foxygen
Album: ...And Star Power
Label: Jagjaguwar