An oxymoron is a figure of speech, whereby two contrasting words are used to describe an effect or motive, e.g. “cruel to be kind”. A fox is a four-legged animal, prone to climbing into apartment blocks through open windows and attacking young children; a moron is someone who has made some stupid life decisions. Whether The Foxymorons are referring to themselves as a duo who in semblance are a contradiction, or as baby-snatching idiots is unknown. I guess they don’t mean the latter.

If “oxymoron” suggests a conflict in style, the band’s fourth studio album Bible Stories exemplifies the definition. The tracks leap from the power pop/rock bands like Ash and Lemonhead used to triumph in the 1990’s, to weirdo-folk, to punk, to acoustic alternative, without reason or cause; occasionally it’s as though the songs were written and performed by a completely different band. On first listen, I found myself desperately searching for some reference to an extreme line-up change halfway through the process, which would explain the variation, but to my consternation Jerry James and David Dewese set the material to record within a single winter. Even a shift in dynamic wouldn’t equate for the album’s schizophrenic order; from the heady pop rush of ‘Out of Control’ to the subtle Pavement chords of ‘Skinny Cow Blues’ – there’s no consistent direction and the production just doesn’t make sense.

…Which is a shame, because The Foxymorons do present some stellar material: ‘This Too Shall Pass’ and ‘Big Decision’ replicate the air of self-deprecation that made Elliott Smith famous, while the riffs on ‘We All Crawl’ and ‘Bible Songs’ are standard ingredients for any American summertime hit.

After a good deal of reflection, I’ve managed to rearrange the track list of Bible Stories into what I consider to be three splendid EPs, but as it’s being sold, while it has its moments overall the album isn’t concise enough to be deemed approachable.