I had no idea that Bill Fox was such an enigma. I first came across Fox when I read a review of his solo debut disc, Shelter From the Smoke, in some magazine. I've no recollection of precisely how it was described, but I knew it's mix of smart pop hooks, garage-fidelity vibe and folk instrumentation would appeal to me. This was 1998, the time before you could just hop on the Internet and order whatever you wanted in a few clicks. The local store didn't stock the disc, so I kept a lookout for it. Instead, I came across Transit Byzantium, his second solo disc, also issued in 1998. I bought it and liked it a great deal. I later tracked down Shelter From the Smoke, and liked it as well. I kept my eyes open for a follow-up, but it never came.

A few years later, I learned that Scat Records (home to my beloved Guided by Voices first widely distributed disc, Vampire on Titus) was going to reissue the recorded output of Fox's 1980s band, the Mice. I pulled my reviewer strings and got a promo copy of the disc, For Almost Ever Scooter (which collects the For Almost Ever EP and Scooter LP), which I've played a lot since it's release in 2004. At that time, Scat's press materials reported that "Bill stopped writing and performing music a few years ago, but has plans to start back up again relatively soon."

Then I picked up the recent music issue of The Believer, which features an interesting article about Fox. The author fell in love with his music, but couldn't find anything out about the musician. He contacted former bandmates (including Fox's brother, Tommy, who drummed for the Mice) and other acquaintances, but the closest he got to Fox was to learn that he was working in Cleveland as a telemarketer and had completely given up music. There are other fairly fascinating details about Fox's life in the piece, but because Fox made it clear through intermediaries that he didn't want his life on display on the Internet for all to see, I'll let you track down the magazine if you care to know (The Believer isn't making the story available on its web site for the same reason).

It's a shame that Fox has soured on music, because he's awfully good at it. On his two solo discs, he offers a total of 36 songs, and nearly all of them are keepers. He evolved from the snotty pop-leaning punk of the Mice to offer a sophisticated sound that is clearly influenced by Bob Dylan (the inside of the CD insert of Transit Byzantium is dominated by a photo of a ticket stub to a 1998 Dylan show) but which features stronger, more immediate pop hooks than can be found in Dylan's work. Most if not all of this was recorded on a four track, and nearly every sound is played by Fox. Much like Guided by Voices (whose Robert Pollard is reported in the Believer article to be a fan), Fox figured out how to use the four track as almost another instrument, creating dense-sounding songs that stay on the right side of the line between cozy and claustrophobic.

Not all of the tunes are obvious pop songs, though my favorites on the disc are. "I'll Give It Away" and "Lay You Down" are among the best, each with a great rhythm and solid hooks. He leans a bit more toward the folk end of his sound on some of the songs on this disc as compared with Shelter From the Smoke, but this never devolves into corny campfire singalongs. This is folk in spirit more than sound, the songs so well crafted as to feel like public domain wonders rather than 10-year-old pop tunes recorded in the basement on weekends by a 9-to-5er.

Perhaps Fox really is planning to start playing and performing again, as Scat reported three years ago. If so, that's great news. If not, at least we have these 36 songs (and the 16 on the Mice reissue) to enjoy.

MP3: I'll Give It Away
MP3: Lay You Down

Labels: magazines, music, OOTS