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Houston, we have a problem. It looks like FENIXtx is breaking wide open...
FENIXtx (formerly known as Riverfenix) came together on the north side of Houston in the balmy southern autumn of 1995. In search of a life bigger and better than a job at the local Gunspoint Mall, and being - quite frankly - bored out of their minds, the original three members decided to avoid the path that so many of their ghetto neighbors had followed. Leaving a life on the stoop behind, they picked up instruments and started a band. The droves of girls that followed were just a perk.
With the single "Speechless" in full rotation on L.A.'s KROQ, FENIXtx merged their association with indie label Drive-Thru Records together with MCA, subsequently remixing and re-releasing their first
album along with two new previously unreleased songs. Most of the record was produced, engineered and mixed by Jim Barnes, with most tracks on the Drive-Thru/MCA Records re release remixed by Jerry Finn
(blink-182, Green Day). Ryan Greene (NOFX, Lagwagon) also recorded and mixed two new songs, "Flight 601 (All I've Got Is Time)" and "Surf Song." With a "new" album came a new name. Looking to avoid a lawsuit with the estate of the actor River Phoenix, Riverfenix became FENIXtx, paying homage to the state that spawned them.
The re-released album, now simply titled FENIXtx, covers a lot of bases. From the opening chords of "Speechless" to the album's glorious cock rock guitar solo played by guest axe-man Ro Sahebi, FENIXtx is the musical equivalent of the Texas chainsaw massacre, only slightly less bloody and a lot more fun. The band sings about normal things from everyday life, including multiple stomach pumpings at the E.R. ("Apple Pie Cowboy Toothpaste"), assassinations ("Minimum
Wage"), and wasting your girlfriend's step-father with a Louisville Slugger ("G.B.O.H."). The future promises to bring continually greater success for FENIXtx. They are scheduled to play every
U.S. date of the summer festival the Warped Tour, and a new album is in the not-so-distant future (the droves of girls are, of course, still just a perk). For now, with the album's reissue and their touring schedule psychotically overbooked, it's all work and no play for FENIXtx. But that's the way it goes when you're young, gifted and blacked out. Watch for FENIXtx, coming soon to an emergency room near you.
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