You Can’t Be Funny If You Want To Make Money

Foxygen “We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic”

Foxygen’s new album is full of 60s sounds, so I sorta half-expected them to be one of those bands who basically do the rock equivalent of Civil War reenactment on stage. But no! The most compelling aspect of their music is this chaotic element in which all sorts of reference points swirl around, and there’s never a clear center, and that’s the focus of their show. They remind me a lot of Pavement, really – they have the songs and know what they’re doing, but they delight in chaos and just fucking around. Their whole set last night at the Bowery Ballroom was compelling, particularly in watching them flip on a dime from goofy and loose to rather tight and funky. I love this spirit, and it’s so hard to pull off – you need the chops, you need the tunes, you need the sort of easy charisma where people are willing to assume that you’re just this wonderful weirdo and genius flows out of you. It has to be convincingly casual.

Buy it from Amazon.