Fox in the Henhouse "Fox in the henhouse" (iBot Records, 2010)

Don't let the fox in your farmyard...

With a resurgence of interest in all things 1980's it was perhaps inevitable that an album such as this would appear. I was never that much of a fan of Andy Bell or Erasure. Sadly, Fox In The Henhouse don't share my aversion. You could be forgiven for thinking the opener "Up (change)" was a forgotten fairlight driven disco floor filler of theirs, with all the annoying vocal ticks and vocodor moments. "Zombie" is worse - can you imagine the Beach Boys singing a rejected Alice Cooper song with a mid-80s bass and synth heavy production? Actually, would it help if I quote some lyrics? "Won't you be my Zombie girl? Be my zombie girl and I'll be your bogey man/.../it's midnight at the graveyard and I'm in love". This, I presume, is the "poignant lyrical styling" the press release got so excited about.

The mini-album continues in the same mind-numbing vein. Synth drums, high pitched vocals ("oh soldier girl have you seen a dead body yeah?"), empty lyrical hollowness, and now what is that? Can I hear the damn click track in my left ear? It's like an annoying insect trying to pierce my ear drum.

The last song "Vulpes Vulpes" is probably the least bad - at least it has a couple of hooks, and the bass line is less annoying. Could kill the Duran Duran drumming though.

Not my album of the year, and not really the indie rock building on "pop punk roots" that the press release promised. In a word - avoid.

Date review added:  Friday, September 17, 2010
Reviewer:  Jonathan Aird
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  The fox den