Biography
The Foxymorons craft a richly varied and seemingly unforced style of guitar pop whose tuneful sensibility echoes both the inventive ’90s work of Guided by Voices, Pavement, and Wilco and the classic sounds of Big Star, the Flying Burritos, and the Beach Boys. David Dewese and Jerry James first crossed paths as children in Mesquite, Texas. Following college, Dewese relocated to Dallas and joined James in creating lo-fi recordings. Not long after, drawn to the rising alt-country scene, Dewese headed to Nashville and joined multiple bands, among them the Luxury Liners, a name borrowed from a Gram Parsons song. Though the band had begun as Dewese’s vehicle for country-rock, it shifted into a crunchy, upbeat power-pop outfit reminiscent of Big Star.
Meanwhile, the Dallas recordings Dewese and James had made were issued as the Foxymorons, even though the project had yet to perform live. Their first album, Calcutta, appeared in 1999 and was pieced together remotely, with tapes shuttled between Dallas and Nashville. In March 2000 the duo made their live debut at Austin’s South by Southwest festival. Rodeo City, released in 2001 and titled as a playful nod to Big Star’s Radio City, was assembled in the same long-distance fashion, yet this time Centro-Matic’s Matt Pence and Will Johnson contributed as players while Nashville’s Mike Poole, known for his work with BR5-49, handled mixing and extra tracking. The sessions yielded a tighter, more confident result than the debut. Balancing commitments to Luxury Liners, Dewese helped deliver the Foxymorons’ third LP, Hesitation Eyes, in 2005.
Bible Stories, their 2010 follow-up, was tracked in Nashville and sustained the warm, textured, and nostalgic guitar-pop approach that had long invited comparisons to Big Star and Pavement. Maintaining their measured pace of releases, the band issued its fifth album, Fake Yoga, in fall 2015; the more taut and uneasy record featured Will Johnson of Centro-Matic on drums.
Meanwhile, the Dallas recordings Dewese and James had made were issued as the Foxymorons, even though the project had yet to perform live. Their first album, Calcutta, appeared in 1999 and was pieced together remotely, with tapes shuttled between Dallas and Nashville. In March 2000 the duo made their live debut at Austin’s South by Southwest festival. Rodeo City, released in 2001 and titled as a playful nod to Big Star’s Radio City, was assembled in the same long-distance fashion, yet this time Centro-Matic’s Matt Pence and Will Johnson contributed as players while Nashville’s Mike Poole, known for his work with BR5-49, handled mixing and extra tracking. The sessions yielded a tighter, more confident result than the debut. Balancing commitments to Luxury Liners, Dewese helped deliver the Foxymorons’ third LP, Hesitation Eyes, in 2005.
Bible Stories, their 2010 follow-up, was tracked in Nashville and sustained the warm, textured, and nostalgic guitar-pop approach that had long invited comparisons to Big Star and Pavement. Maintaining their measured pace of releases, the band issued its fifth album, Fake Yoga, in fall 2015; the more taut and uneasy record featured Will Johnson of Centro-Matic on drums.
Albums
