Published on Mar 20, 2002
Sometimes, one can discover new groups through compilation
albums or soundtracks. In the case of Fenix*TX, I first became awre
of them thanks to the
American Pie 2 soundtrack and their track “Phoebe Cates”.
For a first taste, I liked what I heard – and being able to snag
their sophomore album
Lechuza for about seven dollars at Target, I was more than
willing to make the investment.
Sometimes, though, those first glances can be deceiving. While
this is not a bad album, vocalist/guitarist William Salazar and
crew sound more like a poor man’s Blink-182 (without the toilet
humor), focusing on solid musicianship but not having a whole lot
of substance or anything memorable in the songwriting. If Fenix*TX
had done something –
anything – to try and make themselves stand out among the
other bands in the punk-alternative scene, chances are this would
have been a more memorable album.
Alas, it’s not – though the album opener “Phoebe Cates” is still
a nice little slab of pseudo-punk energy. And I will give props to
the group – Salazar, guitarist James Love, bassist/vocalist Adam
Lewis and drummer/guitarist/vocalist Damon De La Paz – for their
harmony vocal work, which is a definite strong point in the band.
But for the bulk of the 51 minutes of
Lechuza, Fenix*TX follow pretty much the same musical
formula that bands like Green Day have made us grow accustomed to,
albeit without a lot of the energy and youthful sneering.
Oh, there’s a moment where the band tries to rile up the blood,
with their call to arms “Something Bad Is Gonna Happen,” but when
weighed with the rest of this disc, it sounds out of place.
Likewise, the more serious messages that underlie songs such as
“Katie W.,” “Tearjerker” and “A Song For Everyone” aren’t really
able to get their points across as well as the band may have hoped
– though I admit I’m at a loss to offer reasons why this is so.
Maybe it’s that Fenix*TX tries to be a little
too serious on
Lechuza, and forget that the point of punk-alternative music
is to allow both the musicians and the listeners an outlet to
release their angst – and, in some cases, just have a reason to be
goofy. It’s not that the serious messages should be ignored, but if
you’re expecting more light-hearted moments on songs like “Pasture
Of Muppets” and “Abba Zabba” (which, if memory serves me right, is
a candy bar name), you’re going to be in for a letdown.
Ah – and I’m going to repeat my biggest pet peeve about the CD
in general, with a message to all bands: quit wasting my time by
sticking useless shit on your discs by separating it from the last
track with umpteen minutes of silence! (Some time ago, I said that
bands should pay me a dollar for each minute they waste my time by
having me sit listening to dead air. If this is the case, Fenix*TX
owes me seven dollars.)
In the big picture,
Lechuza still isn’t a bad album; musically, Fenix*TX does
have their chops down pretty well, though they have a little more
loose of a sound than the mechanical precision of, say, Green Day.
But
Lechuza is less an album of what is than a portrait of what
could have been, from a band who are obviously capable of much
better work.