Search - Foil :: Never Get Hip

Foil are four young guys who play rock & roll with the standard guitar/guitar/bass/drums setup. Hardly inspiring, it would seem, yet these four manage to inject this old format with a new life on Never Got Hip. Owing an obvious debt to the Pixies--especially their final album, Trompe Le Monde--Foil tear through most of the 11 tracks here with an abrasive, buzzsaw ferocity, propelled by bouncy, metallic bass lines and Hugh Duggie's Black Francis-inspired vocals (sometimes spoken, sometimes yelped, sometimes howled), as well as some now-standard studio flourishes (brass, strings, effects). Standout tracks such as the thrashing "Superhero No. 1," the catchy, jerky "Easy Life and Ignominy," and the mostly instrumental (and ridiculously titled) "British East India Co. Trafficker" all demonstrate the potential that still remains in the "traditional" indie guitar-band line-up. Never Got Hip is a remarkable album that's full of great songs, but it's also a glimmer of hope in a world of indie blandness. --Robert Burrow