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Giving standard alternative rock a dramatic flair, Loxsly obviously marches to the beat of their own drum, but the quirky antics of Loxsly’s first two albums have garnered plenty attention from both musical connoisseurs and more sensitive ears. These part-time experimentalists/ part-time pop musicians blend the unexplored with the overdone. Drawing frequent comparisons to The Flaming Lips, the local quintet had all the symptoms of becoming another predictably unpredictable band, but their latest release, Tomorrow’s Fossils, still masters the element of surprise. The elegant piano styling and the sweet, unassuming voice of Cody Grounds provide the initial draw and hook into the Loxsly experience, serving as the fuel to get listeners through even the most bizarre musical tangents that the band goes on, though even Grounds cannot salvage some of the compositions from the shaky grounds that their experimentalism sets.
What was intended to be a loose concept album, Loxsly’s dark sci-fi tale is more effectively told through their expressive musicality rather than the lyrics themselves. Even songs serving solely as musical interludes like “Mouse Petals (We Built the Machine)” seem to illustrate another part of the story. In an interview with The Austin Chronicle, the band outlined the plot: “There’s a scientist that experiments with parapsychology and builds a machine that lets him hear other people’s thoughts, only it turns out to be this Frankenstein sort of thing. He ends up jumping into the ocean with cement shoes to remove himself from the world.” In the absence of the band’s description, however, the lyrics are difficult to decipher, and are certainly hard to focus on amidst busy songs. The heavier subject matter also makes it hard for Loxsly to fully employ their talent for writing addictive pop melodies. Throughout Tomorrow’s Fossils, listeners hold their breath for the moody songs to swerve into a lighter, joyful side, but the album offers little as far as upbeat tunes. Yet despite the lack of tempo variation, Loxsly still has and intriguing drollness to their work.
The foreshadowing “Pedal to the Coast” begins the adventure. A persistent train-like piano lick serving as the bass, this song sets the dark tone of the album, giving listeners a sense of the impending disasters. “You and I Were Working,” the first piano led song on the album, shows Grounds’ accomplished piano style. The delicate ebb and flow of the keys makes a sudden turn halfway through, morphing into an (almost) bright guitar-backed chorus. “Pet Results (The Dog Who Talked Back),” is a welcome relief from the weight of the rest of the album, keeping the instrumentation light. Their expressive musical style is epitomized with the song. Loxsly brings to life the lab animals they chronicle, and you can nearly hear what must be thundering, mutant elephants and tiny rodents through the frantic, picked guitar and the tinkering chords of the piano.
The stylistic choice for Loxsly may have inhibited them from showcasing their usual range, but overall Tomorrow’s Fossils achieved its goal, and listeners can only speculate what obvious musical talent will do without the restrictions of such a dismal theme.
Websites:
www.loxsly.blogspot.com
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