The Proper Ornaments - Foxhole

The Proper Ornaments
Foxhole
2017
Spotify

The Proper Ornaments sound like that band who the owner of your nearest record store won't shut up about. Guitar driven Psych-Pop is the dominant force here, but there is also this laid back reflective vibe that runs straight through the entirety of Foxhole. It feels like early Beatles or one of the other British Invasion bands but after early success and when they started moving into the more psycadellic sounds of the 60s. This album should feel dated, it is bare bones, all analog and nothing like the albums that are making the biggest splashes today, yet it manages to feel fresh and inspiriing right from the start. A lot of articles have been written questioning whether or not Rock & Roll is dead recently but this record shows that when done right you can still pull water from that well. "Memories" seems like it was ripped straight from a Wes Anderson movie, but not the usual twee nonsense, instead it is the music for when the main character is re-discovering themselves and realizing what they must do. With this very strong influences you would expect for Foxhole to sound incredibly derivative but they manage to crave a place just for them outside of their quite specific tastes. However if you are looking for excitement or singing above more than a whisper than this likely is not the record for you.

The pace will certainly turn people away, because as a whole the record does slowly spill out allowing for a great deal of space and time. But the guitar lines are so pure, and the drums so sparse, that you cannot help but fall in love with this music. The record is quite gloomy in reality, with the band wrapping their head around numerous issues, but even in all that muck they are still able to mine some bright spots and some that you many even find really fun. The Proper Ornaments are harkening back to a lighter easier time where the massive pressure that is modern technology wasn't around and you could just be in yourself. It is why their rhythm is so straight up, there is no need to complicate things let the guitars and pianos do the dancing and let one thing be a constant. This is perhaps why despite the cold lyrics the music feels so very warm and inviting. Foxhole is concise, focused and an album that separates itself from the rest of the pack in a fantastic way. Foxhole is not an album to miss.

8.3 out of 10