Foxy Shazam: Introducing Foxy Shazam

There's dumb, and then there's self-consciously

stupid—a trait that can be endearing in the right hands (Beastie Boys,

Andrew W.K., Spinal Tap) no matter how annoying it is coming out of the speakers.

On the surface—and that's really as deep as it gets—Introducing

Foxy Shazam

finds Cincinnati post-screamo quintet Foxy Shazam aiming for the latter.

There's the sheer dumbness of the band name, for one, but there's also the intentionally

ham-fisted cover art, the phony At Budokan-style applause that opens the album, and

the fact that Introducing is actually album No. 2 for these guys. Irony

died with grunge, sure, but we get it.

Unfortunately, once the music kicks in, Introducing proves there's more to

nailing stupidity than simply wearing a dunce cap. Imagine, for instance,

downloading a song like "The Rocketeer" or "Ghost Animals" (to name but two in

an album where everything's samey) without the benefit of

context-through-packaging: Is this a weak Blood Brothers outtake (all tone-deaf

vocals, angular rhythms, and piano-led racket) or, God forbid, Panic! At The

Disco in hardcore mode The short answer—"Who cares"—is the only one that

matters for those who actually want a connection between an album's songs. Foxy

Shazam's shtick assumes that no one does, and the shallow, marketing-fueled

approach to music-making ultimately reveals the group's unamusing Emperor's clothing.