Fony - they make great songs, not TVs, y'know...
The single track is certainly not my favourite of the three songs presented in this package, but it's easy to see how Fony have gained their fanbase - nope, not through bribery, as half the pop industry surely functions nowadays, but through solid touring and brilliant song production. For some strange reason "Wishlist, End" opens with something that is quite similar to some kind of steel drum melody, with the vocals of Olly Gibbons (must... not... laugh...) smoothly sliding over the twisting percussive melody.
Once the steel drums die away, Olly fades out with them and the song literally explodes into its chorus - seriously, if this were a real explosion it would send a nuclear warhead running home for its atomic mother. This song really likes to show off Olly's ability to soar with his vocals - you'll find him doing it often as the song develops. Many rock bands relegate their singer to the back, disguising their vocal melodies behind intrusive, heavy guitar parts. Fony, on the other hand, have a great singer, and are not afraid to show him off.
The B-sides on this single demonstrate Fony's darker side, combining more brooding riffs and punky tones to create, in my opinion, better songs than the single track. "January Zen" opens with a trebly riff that dances around period bursts of sliding feedback, the song then develops into its main riff, and alternates between this riff, verses filled with minimalistic guitar melodies and a spacey atmosphere, and powerful choruses. The third and final track, "Chore Again" appears to be a cleaner version of "January Zen" at first, and also features Fony's tried-and-true style of quiet verses that explode into expressive choruses.
Depsite Fony's reliance on the cliché of quiet verse, loud chorus, they are definitely one of the better bands I've heard coming out of the New Band Pipeline in recent months. Forget your Kubricks and your Reubens, Fony are the future. Seriously, they rhyme with Sony, what more do you want?