Foxing is an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. The band has released five studio albums, a live album, an EP and 14 singles.

History

Foxing began in 2011 following the end of the group Hunter Gatherer, a

post-rock Post-rock is a subgenre of experimental rock that emphasizes Texture (music), texture, atmosphere, and non-traditional song structures over conventional rock techniques. Post-rock artists often combine rock instrumentation and rock stylings wit ...

band active from 2008 to 2010 that featured Josh Coll, Jon Hellwig and Matthew Piva. The initial lineup of the band shortly expanded to include Conor Murphy, who was then the bassist of the then active emo group Family Might and formerly the vocalist of the indie/post-rock band Torchlight Red. It also included guitarist Ben Helman of the melodic post-punk band Eagle Scout. In late 2011, Helman left the group, and Jim Fitzpatrick of Falsetto Boy and Muscle Brain took his place. During their formation period, the band had briefly considered naming themselves She Hums in Swarms before permanently settling on the name Foxing in October 2011. In January 2012, the band proceeded to record the ''Old Songs'' EP. Foxing's lineup changed again with the replacement of guitarists Piva and Fitzpatrick with Samuel Naumann of Torchlight Red in March 2012 and Ricky Sampson of the emo/math-rock group Badgerhunt in April. Naumann soon departed the band in May 2012, and Thomas Pini, who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of Family Might, filled his place. Foxing released the previously recorded "Old Songs" in August 2012. In February 2013, Foxing released a split with Send Away Stranger on the Saint Louis-based DIY label Carucage Records and another split with

Japanese Breakfast Japanese Breakfast is an American indie pop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed in 2013. The project is fronted by vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Michelle Zauner; she is joined in its current iteration by long-serving music ...

. That same month, Pini left the group to be succeeded by Eric Hudson of Torchlight Red, Family Might, and Jimshorts. In March 2013, Foxing embarked on their first tour through the Midwest, within which they were signed to

Count Your Lucky Stars Records Count Your Lucky Stars Records is an American independent record label based in Fenton, Michigan. The label has released albums by bands such as Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), Joie De Vivre, Annabel, Moving Mountains, Benton Falls, S ...

on the final night Foxing released their debut album, ''The Albatross'', in November 2013 through Count Your Lucky Stars Records. In 2014, they signed to

Triple Crown Records Triple Crown Records is a New York–based rock music record label created in 1997 by Fred Feldman. The label features such artists as The Receiving End of Sirens and The Dear Hunter, ''Artists Page'' and launched the career of Brand New in 2001. ...

. Triple Crown released a remastered version in May. In spring of 2014, alongside

Adventures An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme s ...

, Foxing supported Seahaven on their spring tour. Also in 2014, Foxing embarked on a summer headlining tour alongside

the Hotelier The Hotelier is an American indie rock band from Worcester, Massachusetts, currently signed with Dreams of Field Recordings. The band's second album, '' Home, Like Noplace Is There'', has been featured on Spin's "The 101 Best Albums of the 2010 ...

. In October 2014, Foxing supported Brand New on their fall headlining tour, which saw Foxing playing in the largest venues of its career up to that point. Vocalist Conor Murphy credited Brand New lead singer

Jesse Lacey Jesse Thomas Lacey (born July 10, 1978) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who is best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the American alternative rock band Brand New. Lacey was the founding bassis ...

for a pivotal motivational speech he gave to the band right before they were set to take the stage on the first tour date. "Right when Jesse said that, something just clicked for us... from that moment on, it became the easiest thing in the world and the most fun thing that we could possibly do," Murphy said. This was immediately followed by a supporting stint opening for

Modern Baseball Modern Baseball (sometimes abbreviated as MoBo) was an American emo band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of Bren Lukens, Jake Ewald, Sean Huber, and Ian Farmer. The band formed in 2012 at Drexel University and released their first a ...

on their fall headlining tour. In summer 2015, they were a part of the tour supporting

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

band

mewithoutYou MewithoutYou, usually stylized as mewithoutYou, was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consisted of Aaron Weiss (vocals), Michael Weiss and Brandon Beaver (guitars), Greg Jehanian (bass guitar), and Rickie Mazzott ...

. Also in the summer, ''The Albatross'' was released in the UK. On August 3, it was announced that the band's second album, ''Dealer'', would be released in the fall through Triple Crown. ''Dealer'' reached number three on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Vinyl Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

chart. Triple Crown released a promotional song from the album on their official SoundCloud channel, titled "The Magdalene". On July 3, 2015 the band's trailer was stolen along with $30,000 worth of musical equipment after a show in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. In addition to the entirety of the band's equipment, the trailer also contained all of the band's merchandise, personal items and equipment belonging to the tour's opening band Lithuania. The band was forced to cancel several shows, but still managed to play select dates using borrowed equipment. Afterward, Foxing headed on a co-headline tour that winter along with

The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die is an American rock band formed in Willimantic, Connecticut, in 2009. Following the release of several EPs and splits featuring original lead singer Thomas Diaz, they released their ...

. The theft occurred despite a concerted effort by the band to prevent their equipment from being stolen. Coll said, In March and April 2016, the band went on a headline tour of the United States with support from

Lymbyc Systym Lymbyc Systym is an American instrumental band from Tempe, Arizona, which formed in 2001, consisting of the brothers Jared and Michael Bell. The band's sound combines elements of instrumental rock and electronic music. Lymbyc Systym has toured ...

O'Brother O'Brother is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia. History After releasing their debut EP, ''In Comparison to Me'', in 2006, Aaron Wamack and Tanner Merritt joined the band in 2008. A second EP, ''The Death of Day'' was released on Ma ...

& Tancred. Immediately afterward, they embarked on their first headlining tour of the UK and Europe with support from

TTNG TTNG (formerly known as This Town Needs Guns) are a British math rock band from Oxford, formed in 2002, and currently signed to the American label Sargent House Records. Following numerous departures, the band went from being a four-piece to a ...

. This tour included dates in Copenhagen, Denmark and Reykjavik, Iceland (with 2016 Phonofile Nordic Music Prize nominee, Teitur Magnússon). Foxing toured with

Balance & Composure Balance and Composure is an American emo band from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. They formed in the winter of 2007, after the breakup of two local Doylestown bands. The band's musical style has been compared those of Nirvana and fellow Pennsylvania ...

in October and November 2016. Foxing has made festival appearances at Shaky Knees, Bunbury, Wrecking Ball, Pygmalion among others. On December 7, 2017, founding member and bass guitarist Josh Coll announced that he was leaving the band to pursue a career in filmmaking. On June 18, 2018, Foxing announced their third studio album, ''Nearer My God'', which was released on August 10 through Triple Crown Records. They also released a music video for the lead single "Slapstick", directed by Coll. On September 30, 2020, guitarist Ricky Sampson announced that he was leaving the band. Following the release of the two singles "Speak with the Dead" and "Go Down Together" on March 18, 2021 and April 15, 2021, respectively, on May 27, 2021 Foxing announced their fourth album ''Draw Down the Moon'', with the release of the single "Where the Lightning Strikes Twice". The lead-up to the album's release was teased by the band on the website DrawDownTheMoon.org. On June 24, 2021, the band released the fourth single "If I Believed in Love", followed by the release of the title track on July 15, 2021. The album released on August 6, 2021. On July 8, 2022, Foxing released their first live album ''Live at the Grandel'' exclusively on vinyl. The record was limited to 1,000 copies. A week later the band released a video of the same live performance. On July 31, 2024, Foxing announced their self-titled fifth studio album would be released September 13 through a mock press conference video.

Style

Foxing have been described as

and

.Shepherd 2015, p. 54 ''The Albatross'' has been described as

chamber rock Chamber pop (also called baroque pop and sometimes conflated with orchestral pop or symphonic pop) is a music genre that combines rock music with the intricate use of string section, strings, horn section, horns, piano, and vocal harmony, vocal ...

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

,Newbound 2015, p. 80 indie rock,Haridimou 2015, p. 26

math rock Math rock is a style of Alternative rock, alternative and indie rock with roots in bands such as King Crimson and Rush (band), Rush. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including irregular stopping and starting), cou ...

, and post-rock, reminiscent of

American Football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

, Dads, Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate), and

. ''Dealer'' has been described as emo, indie rock and post-rock.

Awards

''Dealer'' was ranked at number 2 on

AbsolutePunk ''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to featu ...

's top albums of 2015 list. The album was included in TheWaster's top albums of 2015 list. In 2019,

BrooklynVegan ''BrooklynVegan'' is an American online music magazine founded in 2004 by David Levine. The company is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York, and originally focused on vegan food and the music community in and around New York City, before broadeni ...

ranked ''Dealer'' at number 32 and ''Nearer My God'' at number 2 in their list of the top punk and emo albums of the 2010s.

Members

Current members

*Conor Murphy – vocals, guitar, trumpet, sampler *Jon Hellwig – drums, sampler *Eric Hudson – guitar, vocals *Brett Torrence – bass, synthesizer, sampler ;Touring members *Emma Tiemann – violin/strings, keyboards *Carolyn Haynes – guitar, strings, keyboards, saxophone

Former members

*Thomas Pini – guitar *Samuel Naumann – guitar *Jim Fitzpatrick – guitar, Vocals *Matthew Piva – guitar *Ben Helman – guitar *Josh Coll – bass, synthesizer, sampler *Ricky Sampson – guitar, sampler

Discography

;Studio albums *''

The Albatross An albatross is one of a family of large winged seabirds. Albatross or Albatros may also refer to: Animals * Albatross (butterfly) or ''Appias'', a genus of butterfly * Albatross (horse) (1968–1998), a Standardbred horse Literature * Albatr ...

'' (November 12, 2013) *''

Dealer Dealer may refer to: Film and TV * ''Dealers'' (film), a 1989 British film * ''Dealers'' (TV series), a reality television series where five art and antique dealers bid on items * ''The Dealer'' (film), filmed in 2008 and released in 2010 * ...

'' (October 30, 2015) *'' Nearer My God'' (August 10, 2018) *'' Draw Down the Moon'' (August 6, 2021) *''

Foxing Foxing is an age-related process of deterioration that causes spots and browning on paper documents such as books, postage stamps, old paper money and certificates, and on textiles such as clothing and artists' canvasses. The name may be a var ...

'' (September 13, 2024) ;Live albums *''Live at the Grandel'' (July 8, 2022) ;Extended plays *''Old Songs'' (August 19, 2012) ;Splits *Foxing/Send Away Stranger (2013) *Foxing/Japanese Breakfast (2013) ;Singles *"Rory" (2013) *"The Magdalene" (August 22, 2015) *"Weave" (September 25, 2015) *"Glass Coughs" (2015) *"Slapstick" (June 18, 2018) *"Nearer My God" (July 19, 2018) *"Gameshark" (August 1, 2018) *"Speak with the Dead" (March 18, 2021) *”Go Down Together” (April 15, 2021) *”Where the Lightning Strikes Twice” (May 27, 2021) *”If I Believed in Love” (June 24, 2021) *”Draw Down the Moon” (July 15, 2021) *”Greyhound” (August 1, 2024) *”Hell 99” (August 21, 2024)

References

; Citations ;Sources * * * * {{Authority control American post-rock groups Indie rock musical groups from Missouri Musical groups from St. Louis Musical groups established in 2011 Triple Crown Records artists Hopeless Records artists 2011 establishments in Missouri Count Your Lucky Stars Records artists Emo revival groups American emo musical groups