New Music: Stone Foxes polish their rock into ‘Gold’

Through numerous lineup changes over the years, San Francisco outfit The Stone Foxes—playing the Independent Sat/29, as part of Noise Pop 2020—formed in 2005 and have retained a sound that blends heroic, guitar-driven rock strains, with a modern blues twist. (Don’t confuse them with ’90s glam rock darlings Stone Fox, however.)

Refusing to be dissuaded from ripples in designer musical trends, this band sticks to what works for them. By doing so, theyʻve racked up more than 30 million Spotify streams from over 218,000 monthly listeners. How is that? By generating an essence-in all their arrangements-that could flow effortlessly after the intro song to The Sopranoʻs. Perfecting that retro-timeless rock angle. With Shannon Koehler at the helm of the track “I Want Gold,” from the soon to be released EP Gold—a new collection of heavy lifting rock paeans—it sets in motion, a piercing depiction of the times, broadcasting the world’s infatuation with greed, deception, and loss.

Enlisting composer Jon Shamieh, of Impossible Burger and The Walking Dead, for “I Want Gold” and lead single “The Death Of Me,” the rockers stay on familiar territory with high-flying amplified presentations The rest of the project features the talents of Oona Garthwaite, AhSa-Ti Nu Ford Tyehimba, and Kelly McFarling on the tracks “Can’t Go Back” and “Running Out Of Space,” all highly sought after female vocalists who punch-in here, just as hard as the dudes.

From their youthful days of quad-lead-singer-rock-n-roll to their indie-roots-rock-tour-mania all the way to their brief stint as a Swedish synth-pop collective, according to the bandʻs website, the Brothers Koehler, Shannon and Spence, have remained the creative anchors of Bay Area ensemble.

Now, with Spence pulling a full-on Brian Wilson, writing songs in his sand-filled Malibu beach mansion, Shannon has taken on the role of “full-time microphone boy,” leading the charge in the studio and on the road. In this new set-up, the dudes still pull from a hot pool of talented collaborators, both familiar and new. With Gold, the band states that it’s clear the hill-folk turned flat-landers have evolved their studio technique from “point the horn at the gutbucket” to a fuller and more sophisticated sound.

Gold will be released Fri/28. Stone Foxes perform Sat/29 at the Independent, SF. More info here.