Cult Classic
Michigan-based group LoudFoxCult released their first EP, Cult Classic, in January 2023, but the band has regularly putting out music since 2018. Their first single, “You’re Terrific,” has even raked in over a million streams on Spotify. LoudFoxCult decided it was time for a bigger project and put together five tracks for Cult Classic. It’s easy to believe this band is made up of childhood friends. The instrumental cohesiveness and tight vocals convey a deep level of connection and understanding. LoudFoxCult has managed to capture the 2000’s pop-punk vibes we know and love but infuses modern rock/indie elements that keeps them from being “just another pop-punk band.”
The group opens Cult Classic with the ear-worm “Losing Focus.” The track starts with gritty guitar, quickly joined by a catchy vocal melody and a fun drumbeat. Even though the lyrics tell of a relationship rapidly taking over and falling apart, the beat and vocal line make it easy to sing and dance along. Production on the guitars sometimes leaves the lines a bit tinny, but overall the guitar presence from Austin Kadlitz is steadfast and fills in all empty spaces on the track’s tapestry. Personally, I’ve had it stuck in my head for days. The tone changes significantly between the first and second tracks - “Only Glow” is much rawer, with vocalist Isaac Thorne vulnerably opening up about some pressing familial issues. LoudFoxCult experiments with varying tempos in different sections, which invoke a sense of spiraling. An interesting melody and countermelody between the guitar and bassline from Jackson Ciavattone create uneasy tension. The track ends with a voicemail from Thorne’s father, giving the listener a deeper look into the relationship.
Kicking off the second half of the EP, “Foxtrot” starts with a light and lilting melody and only a wood block to keep time. After about thirty seconds, heavy guitar and drums take over, but that lilting line subtly continues on throughout the track. As a result, there are dueling guitar melodies playing off each other over unyielding drumming. The track comes to a chaotic ending, with a bit of an instrumental breakdown. The group really lays on the nostalgia with the next track, “Letterman.” The lyrics in this song seem to reminisce on a missed high school connection. While looking back, Thorne weighs how his life has progressed in comparison to his peers, and how so many life milestones are just arbitrary. The order or disorder of accomplishments doesn’t make them any less significant. They include another voicemail recording, and the track closes with distorted and gritty guitars.
Cult Classic comes to an end on the track “U Wonder.” The track is a strong closer, feeling final and bittersweet. There is an increased reverb on the vocals, and the overall sound swirls around and envelops the listener. The guitars are also much cleaner, stripped of much of the grit in the earlier tracks. That doesn’t stop them from packing a punch, though. “U Wonder,” and therefore Cult Classic, comes to an abrupt end. The stories have been told, and there is nothing else to say. The band has laid it all out on the EP, giving their listeners deeply personal tales in an engaging and catchy package. Hopefully the release of this EP has put some wind under LoudFoxCult’s wings, and they will be making more music in the future.
