Fox Medicine – Procédures Mystiques
(Night Nurse Records)
Reviewed by Bridget Herlihy.
Self-proclaimed purveyors of ‘bubblegum doom’ (aka ‘pastel grunge noise rock’), Portland duo Fox Medicine are back with a vengeance with their new LP, the aptly titled ‘Procédures Mystiques’. Introduction to a genre with this title is inevitably followed by intrigue, and the follow-up 2018 releases ‘Greetings From Mars’ and ‘Pink Diamond Lady’ certainly delivers a curious, compelling and whimsical collection of tracks that will enthral some, and bemuse others. Regardless of whether it is the former or the latter, this album unapologetically demands the listener’s attention.
Producer Toshi Kasai (the Melvins, Tool, Helmut), likens Fox Medicine’s unique sound as being “Black Sabbath with J-Pop vocals”, as well as being the “weirdest” band that he has ever worked with. Frontwoman and guitarist Neezy Dynamite describes the album as “a strawberry milkshake you drink as you walk through a dark alley of some creepy fairy tale”. Indeed, Dynamite, along with Vanny Keeps (drums/vocals) conjure up an array of seemingly paradoxical soundscapes; Dynamite’s otherworldly vocals providing uplifting light in a sound that is frequently punctuated with moments of organised sonic chaos.
Dynamite insists that ‘Procédures Mystiques’ is intended to offer a soothing experience, in that “the way a certain heaviness and intensity is so nourishing when nothing else will do”. And this is exactly what the album delivers; at only 32 minutes in duration, LP is fast and furious. While relatively short, an LP of longer duration would run the risk of becoming repetitive. Opening track ‘Comfort Pony’ sets the tone for the album from the get-go, with Dynamite’s sweet vocals perfectly juxtaposed against the ferocity of the percussion and stripped back guitar. The accelerated pace is maintained throughout the quirky ‘Ice Cream Man’, ‘Cotton Candy Planets’ and ‘Orion’s Pointy Belt’, which are also standout songs on the album.
Procédures Mystiques might just be the auditory medicine that you didn’t know you needed. Drink up.
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