The words interesting and unique are definitely the words to describe Foxygen’s new album We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic, which was released Jan. 22 with a total running time of about 36 minutes. If you are an indie fan, enjoy songs that are spacey, psychedelic or vintage, or if you like artists such as David Bowie, The Rolling Stones and The Kinks, then this is the album for you.

Foxygen, which includes only Sam France (vocalist) and Jonathan Rado (guitarist), who met in high school and began their magical music, surely deserves more fame than they have for their wonderful songs. The best song on the album is “Shuggie” for the changes in the melody and the speed of the song. With funny lyrics like “I met your daughter the other day. Well that was weird,” who wouldn’t wonder about what goes on in the artists’ lovely, creative heads?

The album would have been even better if the songs were longer. “Bowling Trophies” and “In the Darkness” are only about two minutes long and not very interesting because of repetitive noises and harsh sounds, compared to some of the other tracks like “San Francisco” that has sweet and unique lyrics.

The album is very relaxing. France’s voice is soft and the band uses gentle tones and beautiful music. These types of songs aren’t heard very often on the radio, so they’re nice to hear for a change. What is best about this band is that they’re not afraid to have instrumental solos and less lyrics. The perfect example being “Oh No” which is very soothing because of its simple sounds.

Also, the videos for a couple of the tracks on youtube are very unusual. For example, view the ending of “Shuggie.” The video for “San Francisco,” is unique in it’s own entirety, since parts are pretty random like when there are rapid flashes of two different scenes.

This album is definitely better than the band’s debut album, Take The Kids Off Broadway, which was released in May of 2011. We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic is more unified and it’s easy to zone out to the tracks. The variety of the songs keeps you on your toes and makes you want to listen more and more.

Overall, this album is great for calming down, since it’s great for traveling or going to sleep or if you’re just looking for something new and different. When you’re bored with the music on the radio be sure to check out Foxygen’s amazing album We Are The 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic.

by SARAH HENSCHEL