Fenix TX
Lechuza
Drive-Thru
What we have here is a collection of pop punk tunes about girls, more girls, and being a badass. Here’s my spin on it. Perhaps Fenix TX is attempting to stray from the pop punk, MTV-ready image that 14-year-old girls consume in mass quantities, such as Blink 182 and New Found Glory. As a result, some songs on Lechuza emphasize virtues like deception and jealousy. “Something Bad is Gonna Happen” comes off as false and posturing, like a guy at a show who thinks he’s all tough just because he has two full sleeves of tattoos or something. Fenix TX needs to stick to the “songs about girls” format, because that’s what they do best. The gloriously catchy “Phoebe Cates” starts off the album, with clever lyrics and an earnest devotion to Phoebe Cates. Another highlight is the sad but sweet “Tearjerker.” The label has a parental advisory warning on it, but fear not: most of these lyrics couldn’t offend a Southern Baptist preacher, and I’m sure he could see right through the intended offenders.
Drive-Thru Records, PO Box 55234, Sherman Oaks, CA 91413; http://www.drivethrurecords.com; Fenix TX, 2220 Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90404; http://www.fenixtx.com
