Lofty Reviews: Fox Jaw – Black Light Vignette EP

Fox Jaw have released their new EP Black Light Vignette, Lofty tells us what he thinks

Limerick’s Fox Jaw maybe coming up to their 10th anniversary but their creative output shows no sign of flagging if the quality of material on show on their ‘Black Light Vignette’ EP is anything to go by.

The EP is a mix of all things that have made Fox Jaw such a compelling draw; particularly since the release of their last album ‘Ghost’s Parade’. The two tracks released from the EP to date ‘Do You Want It All’ and ‘Hit It Off’ are near perfect infectious rockers. They have thee underlying menace that you come to expect from the band, with their driving rhythm section and a myriad of delicious guitar licks.

But it’s with the two tracks that bookend the ‘Black Light Vignette’ EP that we see Fox Jaw reaching for ambitious cinematic heights and achieving new levels of virtuosity. The EP opener ‘Weakness’ is something that you might find on a David Lynch soundtrack (maybe he should be given a shout with a new Twin Peak series coming out next year?). It’s a brooding beast full of twangy guitar, rumbling bass and front man Ronan Mitchell pleading in desperation “my weakness is you”.

I was delighted to see ‘Hide & Creep’ included as the closing track as it’s a song that I have long championed as I truly believe it is one of the most impressive releases from a Limerick band in a long time. However, it’s a song that has taken sometime for Fox Jaw to come to grips with. Originally written some years ago, the band never could quite make the track work and it wasn’t until Mitchell’s involvement in ‘The Pigtown Fling’ project in 2014 that saw it come to full fruition. It’s a track that is full of ominous threat from the onset as the Herman-esque strings kick in to full effect alongside the simple but hypnotic piano lines, add in the growling baritone vocal and you have a song that I have always felt should be soundtracking shows such as ‘Hannibal’, ‘Bates Motel’ or ‘Making a Murderer’. Presented here with some tasty additional contributions from the band, it’s the ultimate psycho’s lullaby.

Ten years in the making the ‘Black Light Vignette’ EP sees Fox Jaw striking new ground whilst staying true to what has brought them this far, we look forward to the next ten years with heightened expectations.

The ‘Black Light Vignette’ EP is released on September 17th on CD and download. Catch Fox Jaw on tour this September including their 10th Anniversary gig in Dolan’s on September 17th.

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