Foals

Foals
Antidotes 2008 Sub Pop

Think of it as math-rock you can dance to; with guitars that owe much to the great post-punk acts of old and a rhythm section rooted deeply in disco and funk, the mind is presented with a beautiful paradox. And as the indie rock blazes from its core, the songs unleash upon us the Afrobeat sounds of brass and kettle drums. But in all of its cacophony, all of it's innovations, it rarely sounds alien or full of dischord, rather it is able to flow in quite a naturalistic fashion. The vocals are for the most part shouted instead of sang, tinged with their Oxford accents and marked with sass without being typical copies of such singers who might attempt similar things.
The album is full of stops and starts, tempo changes, genre changes, mood changes; it is both ethereal and pulsating, dance-inducing and thought-provoking. However, it is not at all times the most memorable of albums, the melodies sometimes falling short and the innovation itself taking center stage. It is something I admire and can understand the temptation, though it is my hope that this album is used as a building block and that true potential is unleashed. It is their debut album, after all and for that we are truly lucky.