The Stone Foxes-Bears and Bulls

Post #125
I'm going to take a moment here for a little departure and review a band that is much more a blues-based rock band, The Stone Foxes. Though I love metal like no other music, I do retain an ecclectic range of music that I enjoy. I was raised on classic rock, and that genre (as well as several heavy metal artists) are often influenced by the blues. The Stone Foxes appeal to me through those roots of the blues...

The Stone Foxes are a new blues-rock band out of San Francisco, CA. Their second full-length album, Bears & Bulls, offers 12 tracks that illustrate their style and direction. The Stone Foxes comfortably blend rock music with blues, blue-grass, or a hint of country/folk rock in a fashion that remotely conjures comparisons to The Eagles in my mind. Overall I'd say that they stick much closer to strick blues that The Eagles, though.

This albums opens with the up-beat 'Stomp', which is an apt title, as you'll quickly tell if you give it a listen: a brisk drum-clap-drum-clap rhythym carries the tune (much like Queen's 'We Will Rock You', if you need a point of reference). The band comes in with a harmonized 'Whao-oh-o-oh..', and touches of a bluesy slide guitar complete the formula for this simple, yet addictive track.

The next song, 'Patience', kicks it up a bit, and the band jams this one out with some heavier electric guitar. I would almost compare their electric/amped songs to late-80's Aerosmith, if perhaps they had a stronger blues influence themselves. From here on out The Stone Foxes display numerous incarnations of twang-infused blues, mixed with good-old rock & roll. It is really a great musical formular that must be heard to be fully appreciated.

I have several tracks from Bears & Bulls that I would highly recommend. They are as follows:
-Stomp
-Patience
-I Killed Robert Johnson (a clever, narrative blues number, that both pays homage to the Blues Legend, while also telling a little tale that plays upon the Faustian legend connected with Robert Johnson himself.)
-Reno (this song is a bit of a ballad. The Stone Foxes show us what their softer side is like.)
-Little Red Rooster (This one is straight-up, 100% blues to the core. Much like Hendrix's 'Red House', or SRV's 'Pride and Joy', this song belts out an infections groove, that may not bring anything new to the blues, but harnesses the crux so well you can't help but sing along with it, much like those classics of yore had done before...)

Don't miss out on this great new blues-rock band! Check out their webpages today!
http://www.thestonefoxes.com/
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Stone-Foxes/121833977860695