Fenix TX – Lechuza • Page 3

I haven’t talked to Will in years at this point, but I talk to his wife every once in a while. I’ll have to look into this.

 

You should! I think it’d be super interesting and there’s an obvious fondness here that he’d probably appreciate.

 

They were the first band I ever saw live. They were opening for blink. ( With bad religion in between) I was in 5th grade with a friend my older sister and her friend and my dad. After a few minutes of Fenix TX and plenty of swearing in between songs my dad gave me the this stays between us look.

 

Nice review, thanks. Still shocked A Song For Everyone wasn’t pushed as the first single I feel like it would have been a huge hit in 2001 and could see it get a lot of airplay on TRL with the label really behind it.

Back in 2001 I thought for sure Fenix TX and Sugarcult were going to be the next big punk bands to break through to the next level like NFG and Good Charlotte would do in the following years. Would have been interesting to see what a 3rd album from them would have sounded like.

 

He seems like a pretty confident and seasoned vet at this point. That interview had a lot of substance, thanks for sharing to.

 

Really cool review! After reading this, I felt inspired to give this album a listen for the first time in a few years and hot damn does some of it hold up really well. It feels a little bit disjointed between the "typical" pop-punk songs they wrote and the heavier stuff, but a big part of me wishes we could have seen them merge those two together on a later record. The EP they put out a few years back is more of a streamlined, middle era Foo Fighters-y type rock record and I would have loved to have heard what they did between those things as a band to get there.


Out of curiosity, does anybody know how many records they sold with Lechuza? I've been debating it with a friend and they are somehow convinced that it sold 400k (with S/T selling ~200k+). Neither of those feel correct, especially considering that Lechuza got minimal radio and MTV2 play for a very brief period, MCA didn't push the record so much, etc.

 

Hard to say! This Wikipedia article says the self-titled combined with Lechuza sold over 600,000 units.

Thanks for checking out the review!

 

A Song For Everyone is still such a jam. Even if it was the 2nd single I think it would've helped propel Lechuza a bit more.

 

There are 4-5 songs on this that have stayed as
Routine plays for me.

 

Of course! The album holds a very special place in my heart and it's rare to read words about it. So it made me really happy!

And yeah, my buddy referenced that too. The math doesn't quite add up though, considering that the Starting Line's BOATS took until 2007 to sell 300k (which was a more popular record by my determination). The band has referenced a few times in interviews that Lechuza underperformed compared to the S/T too, so 600k just kinda feels like a lot between those two records all things considered.

I would have assumed a cap of like, 250-300k with a heavy split going to S/T.

 

Yeah, 600k is crazy high for that album. The Amazon notes on the Purple Reign in Blood album say its 150k, which is MUCH more likely. Only selling 150k after selling 225k for their indie-ish debut is definitely a disappointment. They were a few years too early on the darker/heavier pop punk

 

Iirc, by the time “Lechuza” came out they didn’t have the connection with Blink that helped sell the self-titled. I also don’t think it got much support from the label. I think it was basically one single and done.

 

Thanks for this! This is much more aligned with what I was expecting.

Yeah, Talking Records actually did a really great interview with Damon about the making and release of this album. He didn't indicate that they were disappointed with the label support, though he did indicate that a bunch of stuff in terms of the artwork, single selection, release date, and the like didn't go the way the band would have liked.

One of the things they mentioned was wanting the album to be released the same day as TOYP&J with the thought being that both bands would be on the endcap on the same day, encouraging people to pick them both up. The label nixed that, obviously. Hah.

 

I feel like the Denver harbor album realized that merging of styles pretty well.

 

I thought it abandoned the pseudo-nu-metal side of things and was much better off for it.

 

I fully disagree. Denver Harbor abandoned the heavy in favor of a more pop-rock lean. There's still some of the "heavy" in there, but it's heavy in a Jimmy Eat World kinda way versus the more metal stuff they were attempting on those Lechuza songs.

Man, I forgot how much I love that Denver Harbor record... Time to listen to that one now too!

 

Found this amusing! I think a lot of Drive-Thru albums ended up having a “secret” song towards the end of a disc. https://www.instagram.com/stories/fenixtx/3562505229306224761?igsh=MWx6YWJ6amhsd3l2Zg==