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Jul 31, 2014Despite Martin’s prominent role, Phox are more than just her and a backup group. The rest of the players continue to shine when she is not present.
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Jul 8, 2014It’s all meticulously crafted, but thanks to an easygoing dynamic, each track sounds somehow breezy and nonchalant.
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Jun 24, 2014On this debut, not a single note is out of place.
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Jun 24, 2014Although some tracks may blend together on initial listen, PHOX ultimately serves as a colorful debut from a promising young band.
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Jun 24, 2014This sense of uncertainty is powerful, and what makes Phox one of the most honest and refreshing albums in recent years.
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Jun 23, 2014Phox is an undeniably tight unit, and their long history as friends imbues each track with a distinctive warmth that eludes similar-sounding acts, but their not-so-secret weapon is Martin, who can bend cliches to her will, and does so often throughout the 12-song set.
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Jun 23, 2014By existing at their own preferred pace, PHOX’s wonderful inability to conform to anyone else’s standards is what forces listeners to slowly digest their subtly multi-layered sounds. PHOX may be self-sufficient enough to do without your love, but it certainly deserves it.
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Jul 15, 2014Because the sound is so jam-packed with instrumentation, and Martin’s voice so often bouncing about in the same patters, the sound can sometimes get a little muddy--a little salt to cut the sweetness would have been welcome here and there.
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Jun 23, 2014Phox and its producer, Brian Joseph (a recording engineer for Bon Iver who worked with the band at Bon Iver’s April Base Studios), make the most of studio flexibility in songs that develop and transform themselves radically as they go.
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Jun 27, 2014Fortunately, you won’t get the cavity-inducing earnestness and inoffensiveness that comes with the occasional preciously strummed banjo. Instead, you’ll get better-calibrated songs that sound fresh in a genre that, as these friendly and talented Midwesterners show, still has life left in it.
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Sep 8, 2014For those that don’t mind accommodating some puppyish enthusiasm to go with their elsewhere-provided edge, there’s plenty of sugary sweet and surreptitiously diverse treats in Phox’s picnic hamper to enjoy.
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Jun 23, 2014What saves that song ["Slow Motion"] , and indeed the album as a whole, is Monica Martin's honeyed voice; it's full of soul, even when the arrangements aren't.
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MagnetJul 18, 2014There are seeds of talent in Phox, but this album doesn't let the band flourish. [No. 111, p.59]