poppedmusic

Stoned To Death

Released November 1st 2014

Words: Nick Jaques

Fox and the Law hail from Seattle, Washington. Any assumption that because of where they’re from that this is a grunge band would be wrong. Stoned to Death is the band’s 3rd album proper and from the off you can tell that the slick production and urgent riffage wants to blow these thoughts away. Fox and the Law are definitely not here just to make up the numbers – they want to throttle you with their killer Led Zepplin/The Stooges/ Black Sabbath time-signatures. The singer’s Ozzy Osbourne style hollers want to get inside your skull and leave it shaking in awe.
Opener Cheap Talk displays their love for crunching riffs and has an immediacy about it that is fresh, sharp and straight to the point.

Vocalist Guy finds himself buried in a mantra-like trance on Hot Water and it becomes clear that Fox and the Law’s best weapon is the almost seamless-like quality of their rhythm section. Guy does a good job in letting the music do the talking here, not to say that his vocals are out of place. His style fits just right with the blissed whaling guitars and thundering drums. The chemistry of the rhythm section is something to appreciate on the track Emily – it fades out memorably with a lush lead guitar solo. In fact the chemistry is impressive throughout. Emily’s Sister has no lyrical content and instead is a short creepy interlude which simmers away. I felt a little let down that there was no hint of a link between the 2 tracks, but it makes for compulsive listening as it offers up something different for the listener to appreciate.

The album has a lot of pace and zip to it. Tracks whiz by before you catch your breath and leaving you figuratively feeling stoned to death. The album finishes on a somewhat abrupt note, forcing the listener to sit up and take notice. This is definitely a band who want to be taken seriously and their ballsy led zepp riffs will leave you wanting more. If this band can replicate this chemistry on stage I have no doubt that Fox and the Law will be impressing more and more.
This is classic rock riffing delivered with bite and zest and possesses an eye for sharp production, this is classic rock rebooted for the present and the future. Stoned to Death whets the appetite nicely – seconds are in order!