Spanish act, The Foxholes release Flora and Fauna, their eleventh album, and the follow-up to 2021’s Hex, which I enjoyed. That was a bright and breezy collection of instrumentals, with some great synths and guitars. Class art rock, with two epic tracks. There are none that length on the new album, which is a far more direct rock work than its predecessor.
A mention for the artwork by Beto Val, which is stunning.
The band consist of Jonah A. Luke on vocals, guitars & synth programming; Ángel Millán playing acoustic drums; and Max Moritz on five-string E-Bass.
Txosse Ruiz is the producer & sound engineer, and provides guitar feedback on Alfa i Omega, while Maese 1001 provides additional programming on Tots Callats.
If you fancy some more of this after reading my words, you can take yourselves along to https://thefoxholes.bandcamp.com/album/flora-i-fauna Let’s dissect this, then.
El Propi Misteri (The Mystery Itself) captures immediately that harder edge to the predecessor album I referred to above. There is a throbbing bass, majestic synths which are certainly in the manner of Hex. There is a video, which I have embedded below. Anthemic in places, this is a very strong start. Jonah Luke’s vocals provide just the right sort of mysterious elements, and there is a great guitar solo towards the end.
The title track follows, and I can only describe it as a post rock masterpiece, with crunching riffs, racing along at a speed of critical knots, but never losing the sense of melody the band do so well.
Tota la Por (Totally By). I have embedded this track below. It has clear commercial sensibilities and would happily sit alongside any of the classic hard rock tracks of days of yore. I do love the brighter notes which enter halfway in before the return of the crashing riffs.
Homenatge (Tribute) is very similar in timbre and tone to what came before it at the start, but I do really enjoy the development of these tracks, the rhythm section here especially strong, and the interplay between guitar and voice reminds one of Blackmore & Gillan live back in the day. There is a fine solo guitar in the closing segment.
Rock Paladinus is the longest track at six minutes. To these ears, there is a Motorhead feel to the start. As we approach the halfway point, there is a ghostly guitar solo, dextrous, and again taking a cue from Blackmore’s work very well. Purple & Rainbow would seem to be an influence on this talented outfit. The final minute takes the album theme further with a racing set of notes.
Alfa I Omega (Alpha & Omega) is very heavy and very good. It is the shortest track here, and I would have liked it longer, in all honesty, with its sheer intensity. It is embedded below.
Tots Callats (All Quiet) is the final track on the Bandcamp link (see below), and has a strange electronica/robotic feel, and it is certainly very different to everything elsewhere on the album at the start of the track, wild and dystopian with the effects. It is embedded below, an interesting change of direction, pumped up space rock/electronica.
The album on iTunes has an additional track, namely La Malbouffe, which I believe refers to junk food. Again, there is a very different feel at the start, an almost heavy funk bringing a far more eclectic feel to the album alongside Tots Callats. I love the thumping rhythm section beneath some urgent keys, which at other times are more playful, which signal danger, signifying, I believe, the contents of the rubbish being eaten.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this album, very well played, produced, and presented, and have no hesitation in recommending it to you.