Foxygen

American indie rock duo
title: "Foxygen" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["musical-duos-from-california", "indie-rock-musical-groups-from-california", "musical-groups-established-in-2005", "2005-establishments-in-california", "jagjaguwar-artists"] description: "American indie rock duo" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxygen" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American indie rock duo ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Foxygen |
| image | Jonathan Rado and Sam France of Foxygen @ Flow 2015.jpg |
| caption | Foxygen's Jonathan Rado (left) and Sam France (right) performing at Flow Festival in Helsinki, Finland, August 2015 |
| origin | Agoura Hills, California, U.S. |
| genre | {{flatlist |
| years_active | 2005–present |
| label | Jagjaguwar |
| associated_acts | {{flatlist |
| current_members | * Sam France |
| :: |
| name = Foxygen | image = Jonathan Rado and Sam France of Foxygen @ Flow 2015.jpg | image_size = | caption = Foxygen's Jonathan Rado (left) and Sam France (right) performing at Flow Festival in Helsinki, Finland, August 2015 | alias = | origin = Agoura Hills, California, U.S. | genre = {{flatlist|
- Indie rock
- psychedelic rock
- garage rock
- baroque pop
- experimental rock | years_active = 2005–present | label = Jagjaguwar | associated_acts = {{flatlist|
- Richard Swift
- The Lemon Twigs | current_members = * Sam France
- Jonathan Rado
Foxygen is an American indie rock duo from Westlake Village, California, formed in 2005. The band consists of multi-instrumentalist Jonathan Rado and vocalist Sam France. They have released six albums and a number of self-released EPs.
History
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/2015_Foxygen-MainStage-Treefort-Credit-Amanda-Morgan-4_(16962868771).jpg" caption="Sam France of Foxygen performing at [[Treefort Music Fest]] in March 2015"] ::
Rado and France started their band in high school when both were fourteen. After their formation in 2005, the band played experimental music; influenced by psychedelia and avant-garde. Their early music won them first place in Agoura High School's Battle of the Bands. They self-released four EPs between 2007 and 2011. In early 2011, they were 'discovered' by producer Richard Swift after handing him one of their EPs at a The Mynabirds show in New York. The group were later signed on to Jagjaguwar Records and their first studio album, Take the Kids Off Broadway, was released by Jagjaguwar on July 24, 2012.
On January 22, 2013, Jagjaguwar released Foxygen's second album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic. This album was produced by Richard Swift and recorded at his National Freedom studio. The record was preceded by the single "Shuggie," released on October 4, 2012. The album charted on Billboard, as did their follow-up, …And Star Power. In March 2013, Foxygen was named one of Fuse TV's 30 must-see artists at SXSW. In 2019, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic came at no.11 on Happy Mag's list of "The 25 best psychedelic rock albums of the 2010s".
The band released their fourth LP, the theatrical Hang, on January 20, 2017, via Jagjaguwar. The album features collaborations with The Lemon Twigs, the Flaming Lips' Steven Drozd and a 40+ piece orchestra arranged by Trey Pollard and Matthew E White. The Irish Times said of the album: “Theatrical is an apt description of this collection as a whole," while noting that the album "edges perilously close to pastiche". The new album was admittedly referred to as a concept album by Sam France and Jonathan Rado themselves. The duo expressed their hope to create an album characterized by rock music mixing with the Hollywood style musical at the 30s. Allegedly, Hang is their first ever album to be recorded in a studio, prior to this their albums and songs written were all conducted at home. The duo also see the characters on the album as a continuation of their previous records.
In February 2019, they announced an April 26 release of a new album, Seeing Other People, via Jagjaguwar. The lead single is called "Livin' A Lie".
On August 30, 2022, the band suggested on their Instagram page that they had broken up. Since then, Rado has spoken about the band as still ongoing. On December 19, 2023, Foxygen performed a brief reunion show at Zebulon in Los Angeles.
On April 13, 2023, the band was featured on the song "There Is This Thing" by Reginald Chapman.
Critical reception
The Entertainment Weekly staff wrote, "We just can't stop playing the scruffy psych-rock duo's Rolling Stones-obsessed album with the appropriately exuberant title We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic." In January 2013, Pitchfork cited Foxygen under "Best New Music" in their review of the new album. Their 2014 album, the Todd Rundgren-influenced ...And Star Power received decidedly mixed reviews. While Paste praised it as "indulgent, unhinged, sprawling, funny and sometimes spookily great," and Slant Magazine called it a "dense and rewarding listen," Hal Horowitz at American Songwriter called it "an occasionally interesting failed experiment."
Discography
;Studio albums
- Jurrassic Exxplosion Phillipic (2007)
- Take the Kids Off Broadway (2011)
- We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic (2013)
- ...And Star Power (2014)
- Hang (2017)
- Seeing Other People (2019)
References
References
- Thomas, Fred. "Foxygen {{!}} Biography & History".
- Hyden, Steven. (July 23, 2012). "Review: Take The Kids Off Broadway". Pitchfork Media.
- Norris, John. (January 15, 2013). "A Breath of Foxygen". Interview Magazine.
- Thomas, Fred. "Review: Take The Kids Off Broadway".
- Fitzmaurice, Larry (October 4, 2012). Pitchfork. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
- (2013-02-28). "30 Must-See Acts at SXSW 2013 - Photos - South by Southwest - Festivals". Fuse.
- "The 25 best psychedelic rock albums of the 2010s".
- (2017-01-18). "Tim Heidecker Experience: Music - w/ Foxygen". [[YouTube]].
- Minsker, Evan. (November 2, 2016). "Foxygen Announce New Album Hang, Dance in Their "Follow the Leader" Video: Watch {{!}} Pitchfork".
- Murphy, Lauren. (January 20, 2017). "Foxygen - Hang album review: Fleet of foot, with looniness kept to a minimum". The Irish Times.
- Daniel Durchholz, ["Music Foxygen takes on Hollywood – what a concept!"],''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'', August 4, 2017
- (February 20, 2017). "Foxygen: Through the Doors of Perception".
- [https://www.musicnewsnet.com/2019/02/foxygen-to-return-with-seeing-other-people-out-april-26-va-jagjaguwar.html] {{dead link. (April 2019)
- "Foxygen on Instagram: "FOLLOW SAM'S NEW BAND FELT GENETIX @felt_genetix "LEMONADE" VIDEO OUT NOW / ALBUM 9/5"".
- "Watch Foxygen Reunite For Surprise Set In LA".
- freshselectslabel. (14 April 2023). "@RegChapmanJr featuring @Foxygen "There Is This Thing" – new single out now".
- (February 22, 2013). "The Must List: The Top 10 Things We Love This Week". Time Inc..
- Greene, Jayson. (2013-01-22). "Foxygen: We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic". [[Pitchfork Media.
- "...And Star Power by Foxygen".
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