The StoneFoxes are a blues-rock band based in San Francisco, which is a city with an
indisputably significant musical history, but not exactly a hotbed for
blues-rock. So it’s no surprise that their new album, Small Fires, draws on sounds from bands spanning the entire
continent: the Black Keys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Mountain, Drive-By
Truckers, The Band, Cage the Elephant and the White Stripes all join us in
spirit as we listen to the album.
A friend and I were discussing
the Stone Foxes, and he pointed out that while they have potential, he wouldn’t
recognize any of their songs; he was implying that they can play their
instruments but the album lacks an identity. And while that, for him, basically
means he’ll never listen to the album again, I started wondering: Is the
album’s lack of identity the one thing that actually gives it an identity?
These guys are not a cover band; Small
Fires is a collection of 10 completely original tracks. So if those 10
songs sound like a compilation of the top hits from, say, a Georgia radio
station in 1976, is that really a problem? I say absolutely not.
The only people who really,
truly care about a band’s identity are the band members and record executives;
without an identity, the former might suffer from some kind of crisis of consciousness
and the latter will struggle in terms of marketing and branding. But do you
really think fans care more about a band’s identity than the music they play? Like,
if the Black Keys decide tomorrow to put out an album covering the soundtrack
from the hit Broadway musical Cats,
will fans blindly line up in droves because it’s the Black Keys, or will fans
stay away because it’s Dan Auerbach singing “Memories?” I assume (and hope and
pray) that fans will stay away, because once the brief excitement over the
novelty of the idea wears off, you are just left with the Black Keys covering Cats.
This not an issue with Small Fires; the so-called lack of
identity is a fake problem, because when it comes down to it they play some
really good music. And they’re from San Francisco, for goodness sake; are they
really going to worry about their identity? The second track, “Ulysses Jones,”
is as dirty-southern-blues as it gets, while the sixth track, “Cold Wind,” can
pretty safely be described as a west coast beach anthem. Then the Stone Foxes
get back down to business; the business of blues-rock with a slightly
psychedelic twist, in the track of the album “Jump in the Water.”
If the Stone Foxes fly under the
radar for the rest of their career, or get forgotten about entirely, it would
be a damn shame but not entirely surprising. However, I could just as easily
see them gain some national traction, once the rest of the country starts to
like them as much as their discerning local fans. It’s all going to come down
to their identity; are they going to use it to their strength, or let it become
a weakness? Are they going to keep playing around with different sounds, or
hone in on one particular style and go from there? It would be unwise, and
maybe even selfish for them to hone in on one particular style. Fans today want
variety, which is something the Stone Foxes have plenty of.
Grade: B+
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