Before the album Antidotes was released stateside (on Sub-Pop, with their already popular singles “Hummer” and “Mathletics” included) the chrysalis process for the Oxford England group, Foals, had already taken place. They had gone through their neophyte name changes, their anti prop-rock pretensions, and come out clean on the other side with something tangible and perhaps genuine: a following ready to get behind their music.
Hatched in math rock (witness the latter single’s name) and energetic modern rock, a la, Modest Mouse and Built to Spill, the Foals sound could hardly be more gratifying. It’s thick and rich with interesting instrumental interplay, and the most familiar access point for new audiences might be the former mentioned American act (the vocal style and quality of Andrew Mears and Isaac Brock are dead ringers for one another, so much that any first listen requires a double take). Whoever they sound like, what they offer is a proper record, filled with the fast and punchy, and the slow, trawling and spacey. Despite the seeming disparity, the album holds together well, with just enough guitar chatter (“Heavy Water” and “Like Swimming”) and beep/boop gadgetry to sustain interest.
There is a traceable etymology to the band’s name – I won’t go there, I’ll pretend it’s a self-deprecating play on “fools.” I’ll pretend that because even after the third time through Antidotes it’s clear they’re not, and that I am for having waited this long to hear them. For shame.
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