Bantam Foxes
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Bantam Foxes

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2012

New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Established on Jan, 2012
Band Alternative Garage Rock

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Music

Press


"Single Premiere: Bantam Foxes' "Blood in the Water""

The song features a fuzzy groove that has guitarist and vocalist Sam musing upon being attacked by a shark. Some would call it the perfect song for summer at the beach. - The Vinyl District


"BhamRocks Podcast Interview"

Interview promoting new EP as well as a show in Birmingham, AL, at The Nick in April 2017. - Bhamrocks.com


"Brothers Do It Better: In Conversation with Bantam Foxes"

Twin brothers Sam and Collin McCabe of New Orleans-based band Bantam Foxes are men on a mission: to make the rock and roll music they want to hear. Having played together for almost twenty years, they are most assuredly up to the task. In anticipation for their upcoming concert at Banks Street Bar on Thursday, March 23, I sat down to talk with them about music and how they go about making it. - NolaVie // WWNO


""Gold Record" Review"

"A Bantam Foxes release is like a sonic postcard that comes every few months, attempting to pack in as much as it can without seeming too dashed off, and leaving listeners yearning for more. Gold Record’s sound as a whole is better than ever before, showing that brothers Sam and Collin McCabe are at the height of their powers instrumentally, throwing themselves into the pop-inflected repetition of “Sleep” like pros. Go further into Gold and much of what makes this a trio to watch is still in evidence, be it in the keyboards and nonstop guitars of “Ghost,” the hypnotic bass of “What’s In A Name?” or the culmination of it all, the sublimely changeable “Signals.”" - Antigravity Magazine


"Single Premiere: "Sleep""

Many bands still seem addicted to the major label-dictated album cycle that once prompted Prince to declare himself a slave. Although the technology that gets music from the bands to the fans has given the musicians more control, many still want to put out an album once a year at best, maybe longer, even though the ADD-afflicted marketplace has a hard time remembering a band three months after a release.

Local rock band Bantam Foxes aren’t bound by those limits. They regularly release EPs, and have another one—Gold Record—due out June 17, and My Spilt Milk is pleased to debut a song from it, “Sleep.” - My Spilt Milk


"Bantam Blitz: Bantam Foxes' Constant Content"

"Local garage indie rock ’n’ roll power trio Bantam Foxes is playing late on a Thursday night at Gasa Gasa, and despite its members having to work early the following day, it will not let up. The band tears from one ferocious guitar-driven burner to the next, gaining intensity—and volume—as the set progresses. There are moments when the members of Bantam Foxes—twin brothers Sam McCabe on guitar and vocals and Collin McCabe on bass and vocals, along with drummer Jared Marcell—are locked into each other, making eye contact or facial gestures to determine their next move. It seems as though they are making some things up as they go along—precisely because they are." - Offbeat Magazine


"My Spilt Milk: Bantam Foxes Have a Brand New "Loser""

"On the band’s new four-song Loser EP, guitars are everything, from the Nirvana boogie of “(I Wanna Move to) Texas” to the big, chorded chorus in “Left for Dead,” which gets out of the way for a full-blown, squeal it out, distortion-laden solo. Sam McCabe’s inner Jack White got a work out, and in a time when guitar-driven, heavy rock ’n’ roll is hard to find, that’s something.

Surprisingly, what has come to seem like an old idea doesn’t sound old when Bantam Foxes play it. The dynamics of “(I Wanna Move to) Texas” are a little grungy, but the songs have some nice curves, such as McCabe’s two-note picking pattern for much of “Left for Dead.” It evokes country music without sounding like it, and the band moved the emphasis in the phrase so that it is clearly their own thing." - My Spilt Milk


"Q&A: Bantam Foxes Prepares for First Voodoo Performance"

Bantam Foxes, a three-piece group composed of twins Sam and Collin McCabe and Jared Marcell, is no typical rock band.

The group is touring the country in Collin’s car as it continues to gain exposure. On Oct. 30, Bantam Foxes will perform for the first time at the Voodoo Music and Arts Experience.

Though they describe themselves as New Orleans-based, the McCabe twins hail from St. Louis, Missouri. After coming to New Orleans to attend Loyola University, they met Marcell, a New Orleans native who attended Loyola.

The three were floundering in bands that didn’t work out and gave a new three-piece band a try. The Daily Reveille sat down with Collin to chat about the group’s upcoming Voodoo performance.

The Daily Reveille: So how is the tour so far?

Collin McCabe: It’s really good, actually. We did St. Louis, Milwaukee, [Wisconsin], Chicago, then St. Louis again. Louisville, [Kentucky on Oct. 21], Tuscaloosa, [Alabama on Oct. 23], Atlanta on Saturday. All in a week. My poor car, my poor, poor car. We’re back in New Orleans Sunday night and then we hit it hard to get the set for Voodoo prepped up.

TDR: You’re performing at Voodoo in New Orleans, how excited are you for that?

CM: It’s especially a big deal to me because I’ve worked for the festival since I moved down here. It’s not like I was working in parking I was carting artists around and that sort of thing. That sort of thing was always fun, but this year is kind of a big deal to me because I’ve worked there for so long. I made a joke with my interns last year that next year they were going to be carting me around, and lo and behold. It’s just really exciting. I mean Florence and the Machine’s playing and Ozzy Osbourne. I’m more excited about it feeling like this next logical step for us to start taking.

TDR: This is your first time playing at Voodoo as a band, right? What are you looking forward to most?

CM: Yes, where we’re playing it. It’s a big stage, and I’m just stoked it’s a huge festival. I get to go see people that I love and play for people I love. It’s going to be rad. Festivals are cool, I’ve been going to festivals for a long time. We’re taking that next step and that makes it feel huge.

TDR: What’s your favorite thing about New Orleans?

CM: I just love New Orleans. It’s a great city to be a part of. There’s so much there to influence you, whether it’s the other bands that are within the scene that we’re in or it’s the other music that’s happening. It’s a beautiful city and it’s fun to be a part of and to be able to play music in what is a town known for it, sort of feels like a privilege. It’s not just a city, it’s New Orleans. People come down to New Orleans to see live music and I get to be a part of that.

TDR: What’s your favorite part of performing live?

CM: All three of us really know how to read off of each other. I know how Jared plays I know how Sam plays. It’s almost like an ESP kind of thing. The three of us are like brothers, and it’s like getting up there with your two best friends and knowing exactly what they’re going to do before they do it. We’re one thing that’s happening, and we can make a lot of noise with just the three of us.

TDR: How do you incorporate your influences into your music?

CM: Well, Sam and I grew up listening to a ton of Nirvana and all of the stuff that really hit in the ’90s. What’s so cool about a lot of that stuff is that there’s like real meat to the instrumentation for a lot of that music, but there’s also really great melody. There’s a lot of really great pop songs. A lot of Nirvana’s stuff, those are pop songs. Most of the [alternative] rock that came out in the ’90s had pop influence. That’s a huge influence on all three of us.

TDR: I have to ask you about the band name and how you came up with it.

CM: This story’s great, actually. Sam wanted to use “Foxes,” and we were listening to Beck a lot at the time. He has this song called “Hotwax,” and none of the lyrics make sense on purpose. One of the lines had “silver foxes looking for romance,” and Sam’s like, “Oh, let’s name it Silver Foxes.” I’m like, “Yeah, that sounds cool.” We threw that at Jared, and he said, “Guys there are seven million dad bands that are named Silver Foxes.” There are tons of bands that are named that, so we Googled it, and it’s true. Jared really likes boxing, and we’re all short, so all three of us fit the bantamweight class in boxing. So we went with that.

TDR: Craziest tour story so far?

CM: I could tell you tons of crazy tour experiences, but you can’t print any of them. They’re all that bad. We sleep on floors, we meet weird people all the time. Here’s a safe for work one. Over the summer, we were going to New York. We played in Columbus, and we were supposed to play in the lower east side of Manhattan. That is a 10 hour drive. It was not something that we could feasibly do in one day. After the show in Columbus, we went and got White Castle and coffee, and we drove all night. We were driving through Pennsylvania and doing just fine for a long time. It hit about 4:30 in the morning and there is no gas anywhere, and our gas light comes on. It was terrifying. We get off at this exit, and all of the gas stations are closed, and one of our tires is losing air quickly. We stopped a trucker, and he said there was one a couple miles from there. We managed to actually get there without running out of gas at 4:30 in the morning in the middle of Pennsylvania, somewhere I’ve never been, I know no one. We got gas, pumped up the tire and drove for another four hours on it before we got to New Jersey where we could change it. - The Daily Reveille


""LOSER" Review"

"Sam and Collin McCabe continue their big blasts of guitar-and-bass interplay, going full fuzz- and glitter-covered glam... end[ing] with a crashing acoustic guitar- and organ-powered downer and a wild guitar solo." - Gambit Weekly


"What to Expect at Voodoo Music + Arts Experience"

"The Voodoo Experience opens today, and you might want to get there early to experience Bantam Foxes on the Carnival Stage at noon with their unique and interesting rock-hard sound..." - AXS


"Out now: New Orleans rock trio Bantam Foxes hit back with "Give Us a Raise""

"Twin brothers Sam and Collin McCabe and drummer Jared Marcell released their Bantam Foxes debut, Triumph, in 2013. The band's first full-length effort glimpsed the high-volume garage rock 'n' roll ahead. With its latest, the focused four-track EP Give Us a Raise, Bantam Foxes admits it's best listened to with the volume all the way up. The band stacks layers of overdriven, fuzz-covered glam rock guitar and bass riffs over Marcell's one-man army of drums. There's dark, grooving '90s alt-rock (a la Breeders and Toadies) on "Trapped" and pummeling, Sabbath-inspired guitar runs on "Never." - Gambit Weekly


"Meet Three Bands That Love Playing Houston"

"... a traveling show that converts empty souls with the holy trinity of garage rock, blues and '90s alt-rock." - Houston Free Press


"Bantam Foxes Showcase New Music at Old U.S. Mint July 26"

Ranging from Black Keys-esque gritty, bluesy guitar riffs to Nirvana influenced power-chord-laden tracks with consistently powerful and loud drumming, Bantam Foxes offer something for every type of rock and roll fan… The true genius of Bantam Foxes lies in their live performances. With Collin and Sam swapping instruments throughout while maintaining their raw, unrelentingly loud sound, the live set is often much more satisfying than what is captured on record. - Offbeat Magazine


"Nola Defender Nods 2013: Music"

The indie band of brothers (and a friend) saw a banner year that had their music featured on MTV as well as licensed for use on the Discovery’s many networks. Bantam Foxes are a quintessential college band gone national. Though the trio bills themselves as garage rock, they’re a multifaceted group that draws as much from the hiss and fuzz of a laid back jam session as the stringent composition work they perfected at Loyola.” - Nola Defender


"TRIUMPH Review"

To pigeonhole the music of Bantam Foxes into a niche known as ‘90s rock is to miss how far brothers Sam and Collin McCabe, in league with hard-hitting drummer Jared Marcell, have brought their fuzzed-out rock in just a few short years––and how high they’re aiming with their sounds. Kicking off their first full-length album, Triumph, with the powerful pastiche of “Charade” is truly throwing down a gauntlet: the Foxes are here and ready to roll. The first track is so strong that it seems to call on the band to keep up with its greatness, and they prove to be more than up to the task, responding with infectious riffs on songs like “Temperature’s Dropping;” attitude that evokes a punk sensibility mixed with ‘80s hard rock (“Better Off ” being a perfect example); and heavy beats that nearly explode as the album hits its stride. The songs from the previously released EP Fascination are here as well, fitting in with the rest of Triumph as though they’ve always belonged, all of it sounding down and dirty and just on the edge of dangerous. Triumph is a debut one can’t help but turn all the way up, and that’s the way the Foxes like it. - Antigravity


"Gambit 2013 Music Issue - Seven Artists to Watch"

“Bantam Foxes have in just two years developed a sound that draws no easy comparisons in the canon of New Orleans rock ‘n’ roll. Members Sam McCabe (guitar, vocals), Collin McCabe (bass, vocals), and Jared Marcell (drums) combine wailing, urgent lyrics above fuzzy, grungy guitars and a pulsing backbeat in songs infused with blues, punk, and garage rock.” - Gambit Weekly


"Bantam Foxes Feel Fascination // February 2013"

Today, we have a first listen to the band's shoegazy new three-track release. On Tuesday, we'll update the site to include a link to the EP online, but you can hear it now. - My Spilt Milk


"Homegrown: Local Indie Outfits Kick Out the Jams // September 2012"

Houston, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Mobile, Pensacola and Jacksonville are just some of the cities in the southern circuit that lie on the I-10 and surround New Orleans. This stretch of road is quite valuable to the local indie rock and roll community — a scene that’s growing larger each year, and pushed heavily by young students and graduates from the town’s universities. It’s a straight shot through the South with many smaller cities in between — or not far off — which makes for an easier tour and a convenient way to broaden a fan base. But the roads in New Orleans are bumpy and mostly go one way, and whether or not an indie scene can survive is a question that looms over the city. Yet, it doesn’t seem to faze bands like Coyotes, Bantam Foxes or Sun Hotel, thanks to a strong New Orleans community that has created a platform for them to build on.
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Loyola students and twin brothers, Collin and Sam McCabe got their first experience with the indie/university community with their band Cute Machines but moved on recently to create the trio Bantam Foxes. Although they’re a young band and have only been performing together since January, their experience combined with
the presence of their older, more seasoned drummer Jared Marcell has helped the trio break into the scene and embrace the New Orleans indie community.


Bantam Foxes, photo by Matt Rosenthal

“[Jared] knows everybody in this city. It’s ridiculous,” explains Sam McCabe, who plays guitar for the group. “With Jared being six years older [than us], it gives us a broader age spectrum. He’s 26, and more of our fan base is [college graduates].”

For the group, this is a good and bad thing. It’s easier to promote on a college campus, especially one as small as Loyola’s, but if the band attracts a crowd that consists mostly of graduates, then they’re competing with an entire city.

“New Orleans is tough,” McCabe says. “There is so much music. It doesn’t matter what night you’re playing; there’s always something else going on that’s going to pull from your show.”

But the fledgling band is aware of the role that they assume in the community.

“We try to help people out as much as we can, because that’s what we want people to do for us,” McCabe explains. “That’s the good thing about New Orleans. If you help someone out with something, then that band is going to do something for you in the future. That’s the best part about [the city]: the community.”

Although the group realizes they have had little to no impact on the scene so far musically, McCabe and his bandmates understand that “the best impact a band can have when they’re at the level we’re at is to try and help everyone else out with the impact they want to create.”
- OffBeat Magazine


"The Whigs w/ Bantam Foxes // January 2013"

With a roaring new single ("Interstate 55"), New Orleans' Bantam Foxes sets the spike. - Gambit Weekly


"Bantam Foxes at OTI Fest (Beaumont, TX) // November 2012"

“New Orleans garage rock/post-punk/indie rock band Bantam Foxes returns to Beaumont to slap you in the face with way more sound than you’d expect from a three-piece. This band is somehow loose and psychedelic fuzzy while delivering with high-energy precision. Simply put, they’ll rock your face right off your face.” - Cat Five // Beaumont Enterprise


"!Yes Indeed! Fest Tiger Beat Rundown: Bantam Foxes // September 2012"

..... Naturally, not everybody responded. We suspect most people just laughed, shook their heads, and deleted the email. But yes, a few were brave enough to bare their souls, including New Orleans’ murky, fuzzy-edged doom-popsters Bantam Foxes.

SCR: How would your mother describe you in one word?
Bantam Foxes: Handsome.

What is your favorite flower?
Tulips.

What is the most insane question you’ve ever been asked?
“What is your favorite flower?”

What word in the English language do you wish you had invented?
Discombobulate.

Where would you like to live?
In the Bluths’ model home from Arrested Development.

What is the first quote that comes to your mind?
“We didn’t come here to be hip, we came here to shake hips.” — Josh Homme

What animal best describes the kind of woman you’re interested in?
A fox, obviously.

What do you miss about your childhood?
Being able to take gummy vitamins shamelessly.

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Brock Landers.

What is the main fault of your character?
I just can’t get enough of these gummy vitamins.

Who is your favorite historical figure?
Alexander the Great. He’s the greatest.

Describe how you kiss in one word.
Well.

If you met the right woman today, would you propose tomorrow?
Probably not. I’ve got work all day tomorrow.

What in the world do you least desire?
Crunchy peanut butter. Gotta have creamy.

Why do you think most women date you?
See answer to question #1.

Finish this sentence: “Happiness is a thing called…”
A Big Muff Pi. No Tone Wicker, though. That thing sucks. END - Space City Rock


"Get Fuzzed with Bantam Foxes // September 2012"

Say hello to Bantam Foxes, a New Orleans garage rock/post-punk band band specializing in a particular brand of fuzzy rock music.

Bassist and vocalist Collin McCabe said the first name the band tried was the Silver Foxes, which was taken from a Beck song called “Hot Wax.”

“We looked it up and there were like 700 million other band named Silver Foxes,” he said.
The band’s drummer Jared Marcell, who McCabe met at a Cake concert, suggested they use the title Bantam Foxes.

“I am a short dude,” McCabe aid. “I am 5’6”, Sam is about 5’5, Jared is also about 5’5,” McCabe said. “Jared knows a lot of boxing terminology for some reason and bantamweight is the smallest weight class in boxing. We were like ‘ok, whatever’ and we put the two of them together, and I guess the rest is history.”

Though the band maybe light in weight, they possess a heavy sound.

McCabe took some time to talk to us about how the band found its sound and their upcoming performance in Beaumont.



Q. I’m a big fan of MMA so I got it, but I can see how a pacifist might not get the bantam part of your name. Have y’all been introduced as the “Band of Foxes?”
A. Yes we have, and it’s funny because when we went on tour, there was one city — I don’t remember which city it was — but they had us listed on their website as Band of Foxes, and the bartender kept calling us that all night.

Q. How would you describe your music?
A. We call it a gritty fuzz rock, almost like garage rock. When I’m booking shows and talking to people, when I want to be simple about it we say it’s garage rock
post punk type of stuff.

Q. You said you love Cake — the band Cake — but I’m assuming you also enjoy actual cake.
A. (laughs) I do love cake, actually. I’m kind of leaning towards chocolate here. But I do love cake as well.

Q. Where did y’all perform last time you were here?
A. We played Tequila Rok with the greatest band of all time, Hello Chief, a band called We Are Wombat and a band from Houston called the Manichean, which we played a couple of dates on our tour with back in July. I like Tequila Rok a lot. It is a cool place.



Q. You said that was your favorite show on the tour — why is that?
A. For one, about 150 people showed up on a Sunday night, which was really awesome. I’m pretty sure our Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows combined didn’t have 150 people at them. So on what’s supposed to be an off night all these people show up. It was just really cool.

All the people were really super nice to us. Jonathan from Hello Chief put us up at his house, made us breakfast the next day, got us a couple cases of beer — it was like coming home. All the bands were super nice. I’m hoping next Friday will be like that and I’m assuming it will be. I hear great things about Purple.

Bantam Foxes with We Are Wombat, Soy and Purple
Where: Tequila Rok, 260 Crockett Street
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Cost $5

A rundown on how each Bantam Fox found their musical style:
Sam McCabe
“My brother is a giant Jack White fan. He always kind of ripped him off a little bit. A lot of people, when they find that out, are like ‘I couldn’t tell that at all.’ Sam and I have always pretty much had the same taste in music and with Sam playing guitar, we’ve never played in a band where he had another guitarist. In high school he and I were both in jazz bands so he had to find this weird equilibrium between playing rhythm guitar and lead guitar, and it really helped him form.

Collin McCabe
“I love bands like Queens of the Stone Age and Death From Above 1979. I listen to a little bit heavier music than Jared and Sam and that’s kind of how I’ve shaped it. I used way too much distortion on my bass, to where it is a little too gnarly at some points.”

Jared Marcell
“Jared used to be in a band called Smiling With a Knife. They did a couple of national tours but they were this instrumental prog
math rock band. He is just a ridiculously technical drummer, super accurate, always on time always, on point and it’s really helped create (the sound).” - Cat Five // Beaumont Enterprise


"Berkeley Place // March 2012"

If the twentytens are the new ’90s, then Bantam Foxes is poised to take over the world. With as much fuzz, grind and attitude as Smashing Pumpkins and all the hooks of a band like Bush, Twin Tone is an ideal mash of the alt-rock and indie genres. And something else that’s nice about this submission, is that the band sounds youthful but they don’t sound like a college basement band. There are far too many bands today who are so eager to get on wax that they don’t spend the time learning to actually play together. Maybe it’s because the lead and bass guitarists are twins–Sam and Collin McCabe. Whatever the reason, this is a band that plays together, and kicks ass. - Berkeley Place


"Space Rock Mountain // March 2012"

“These guys have a sorta heavy, full sound and are able to put together a well-constructed song. I believe they’ll be worth keeping an eye on.” - Space Rock Mountain


"I Heart NOLA // February 2012"

The brand new trio Bantam Foxes’ first single “Sweetheart” Makes me want to pick up Hunter S. Thompson and drive to Mexico in a convertible. It’s psychedelic fuzz mashup vibrates my headphones. It slows down and then whallops you when it picks back up. “Sweetheart” sounds kind of like what NIN would sound like if Trent Reznor was a little less high strung. - I Heart NOLA


"Lions and Vultures // January 2012"

“If Les Savy Fav didn’t have the ‘too cool, art school’ vibes and The Black Keys weren’t perfectly mainstreamed you’d have Bantam Foxes. I love both of those bands, but it’s sort of refreshing to hear a band that keeps things a little more straightforward. Also, those first notes get stuck in my head forever. The just-released Twin Tone is catchy and gritty.” - Lions and Vultures


"Barryfest // December 2011"

"Serious riffage coming your way soon." - Barryfest (Twitter)


"Barryfest Photoset // December 2011"

Photoset of New Orleans' blog's visit to Bantam Foxes recording sessions. - Barryfest


"Single Premiere: "Blood in the Water""

The song features a fuzzy groove that has guitarist and vocalist Sam musing upon being attacked by a shark. Some would call it the perfect song for summer at the beach. - The Vinyl District


"New Music Discovery"

"US oddball rockers channel the Pixies in this surf-rock gem." - Mystic Sons


Discography

//// LPs ////
TRIUMPH // September 27 2013

//// EPs ////
Give Us a Raise // April 14 2014
Fascination EP // February 19 2012
Another Image, Another Frame // July 3 2012 (Reached #178 on CMJ Top 200)
Twin Tone - EP // January 17 2012

Photos

Bio

"...drippy guitar benders and wailing garage rock." - Alex Woodward, Gambit Weekly.

While everyone else is concerned with making music everyone likes—the “bangers” or the 32-writing credit pop tunes—twins Collin and Sam McCabe simply make the rock and roll they want to hear. Growing up, the boys were always fascinated with music and harnessed that intrigue into something constructive. After trying out countless projects apart, they came to the ultimate decision to stick together and have been writing at a near constant rate ever since. Originally from St. Louis, now based in New Orleans, Collin and Sam craft swift, sweeping and at times, haunting rock songs that just *click*.

After all, brothers do it better.

Band Members