The Stone Foxes
Small Fires
Reviewed by Michele Zipkin
This third record by San Francisco-based blues rock band the Stone Foxes will make you want to shake your hair and rock out. It kicks off with the dark and thumping “Everybody Knows”, which takes its inspiration from Edgar Allen Poe’s “Tell -Tale Heart”. Its hauntingly bluesy guitar riffs, sailing solo work and bang-up background vocals make this tune worthy of multiple listens and numerous top ten lists. The repetition of the phrase “everybody knows” appropriately represents the main character of the story’s crisis of conscious from the murder he committed and his hallucinating the beating of the heart of the person he killed.
Grungy and slightly distorted guitar licks mark the beginning of “Ulysses Jones”, another story-driven tune that’s “on fire”, as per the lyrics of the chorus. Gritty vocals are at the helm, more background vox, and pretty jam-worthy riffs make themselves heard. The pace slows down ever so slightly with “So Much Better”, which sports more of a straight-up alt-rock vibe with arpeggiating guitar and lyrics about potentially getting it on with a girl. Soaring and screeching solo work of course comes into play before the final verse of the song. “Cotto” brings the mood right back to the dirty blues guitar and pounding drums that are so characteristic of the band’s style. Anthemic guitar work introduces the song that is reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s more jam-heavy songs.
The title track rings pretty epic and instrumentally abrasive, though starts off with contained strumming that escalates to loud and electric chords. High-register organ portrays a little descending line that almost calls to mind The Doors. The line “small fires” is sung fairly softly and echo-y, like it bled over from another track, over a pretty catastrophic guitar-forward break-down and fade-out.
“Battles Blades and Bones” runs contrast to the rest of the rockin’ tunes. It’s a somber little number played predominantly on piano and in a minor key, stripped down to simple instrumentation. It serves as a sort of a memorial of past wars, a clear-cut opposition to our country’s inclination toward bloodshed. It almost sounds like “House of the Rising Sun”, (or oddly shares hints of melodies from “The Lion’s Roar” by the Swedish duo First Aid Kit.) The line “we need someone to sing ‘cause we turn everything to battles, blades and bones” resonates fairly powerfully.
“Talk to Louise” brings out the band’s country tendencies, with wordy and syllabic vocals (that have a bit of a twang) over some off beat, um-chuck guitar chords. The record ends on a benevolent and slow-going note with “Goodnight Moon”, a perfect song for gazing at the stars and rummaging through the things you could have or should have done.
United under a concrete vibe, Small Fires flaunts a nice amount of diversity in subject matter, emotional intensity, and instrumental flavor.
