Song(s) of the Day # 3,397 Foyer Red

 

The influence of Cate Le Bon. And not before time. Cate has been a constant joy since she first showed up fifteen years or so back, and now, just as she turns a regal 40, her legacy is starting to emerge.

Take Brooklyn's Foyer Red's debut album Yarn the Hours Away is generously spattered with Kate's DNA. But not to the extend of coming across as plagiarised. Merely inspired.

They in turn inspire with their quirks and jerks. They have idiosyncratic geek energy. Powered seemingly by Duracell batteries like the drumming rabbit in the ads of my youth. Not perhaps the stuff of workouts. Their rhythms are too weird.

Still, it's really energising in the way B-52's, Bush Tetras or Pylon must have been back in the day. It makes you long for New New Wave rather than Post Post Punk.  The call and response of the male and female vocalists. crazy rhythms. Doing the Pop thing rather than aping Ian, Mark E. or the Captain as so many seem to be resorting to in these strange, strange times. To the degree that something that was once the ultimate alternative, now is becoming the sad norm.

Foyer Red are anything but the norm. This is an encouraging record and I'm convinced that they would be the most enormous fun live. They're not bad on record either. I thoroughly enjoyed my forty minutes with Yarn the Hours Away. It's not just promising. It's admirably realised.