REVIEW: "Time Management" by The Foes of Fern
The Foes of Fern
Surfing the Wave of Carefree Horn-Romp Energy.
First off, I'm going to make a deep, ominous confession that's haunted me since, well, it's not really haunting me. I'm looking forward to this. The confession is that I haven't listened to "Time Management", by The Foes of Fern yet. I'm saving it for seven minutes from now when it politely knocks on my eardrums and says, "Hey, I'm the follow-up single to The Foes of Fern's debut album, 'Carpe Diem', released in August of 2020 through Telegraph Hill Records. Mind if I come in with my 14 friends and hang out on your couch?"
Yes, they are a 14-piece ensemble. I think once you hit, say, seven instruments, you can only be described as a troupe. And that's how they describe themselves. From the band's bio, The Foes of Fern are "a band of non-stop fun and gritty gracefulness; a troupe of eclectic musicians from New Jersey setting the record straight, left, right, and upside down…Their music is hypnotic and gang-busting in every sense, initiating you as part of the tribe upon first down-beat." I read this and thought, okay, what defines a troupe? I immediately thought of other large, eclectic bands with theatrical energy like Five Iron Frenzy, Man Man, and Gogol Bordello. Do The Foes of Fern fit into that mold or are they something else entirely?
The Foes of Fern are storytellers. They incorporate jokes, drama, and sing-along choruses in live performances. They are tuba, sax, bass, guitar, ukulele, trumpet, trombone, piano, and "other wandering minstrels". I Listened to ‘Carpe Diem’, produced in the band's hometown of Asbury Park with Grammy-winning engineer Joe Pomarico, to get a taste. My experience was drinking an 11-song flight of romping horn-rock jams with swaying choruses, surges of buzzy energy, and meticulously organized instrumentation. The end sense is, "Oh, I can't drive now, but you take the keys, and I'll keep dancing in the car."
And now we arrive at "Time Management". Lead singer (and band founder) Matthew Fernicola said he wrote "Time Management" in the free time spent with a friend following a couple of large creative projects. It was a time of sleeping in when they wanted, taking walks when they wanted, and simply ignoring career and life's responsibilities. He wrote "Time Management" as a celebration of this liberated lifestyle, and what I hear is an artist that was in the space of creative refueling, letting go of the grind of schedules and structure, and having an open heart to whatever came creatively. I'm going to cover "Time Management" in real-time, and I'll encourage you to listen for yourself with headphones in and volume UP.
Okay, I'm immediately attracted to the maraca in the background. Somebody is having fun with the maraca. The fun, splashy drum beat and layers of horns frolicking together. Trombone surfaces and dives back down, then a trumpet comes in, and they all come together to mingle. I honestly can't stop thinking of dolphins. Just lighthearted, free, diving in and out with the beat but staying cohesive and tight - the opposite of coffeehouse music. More like rollerblading on the boardwalk, and somehow every single person on the beach knows the chorus. And they all start singing in unison, "Baby, you should waste my time/Yeah, we can do whatever we'd like".
That's it, the new single "Time Management" by The Foes of Fern out of Asbury Park, New Jersey. I'm writing this in a swivel chair from a windowless basement, but the song put me on a wave while all the creatures of the sea jubilantly burst up and join with the shore crowd in singing in unison. That's not a bad place to be right now.
Written by Jonathan Delp