15-02-2013, 14:01
online listen
should have been what I like
or so I thought
only 3 tracks that could possibly grow
clip was the best and it would still take some plays
1.1 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Inhaler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ_PMvjmC6M
released Feb 12th, 2013
![[Image: MI0003487289.jpg?partner=allrovi.com]](http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_250/MI0003/487/MI0003487289.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
Bio - from allmusic
Formed in Oxford, England, by longtime friends Yannis Philippakis (guitar) and Jack Bevan
(drums), along with Andrew Mears on vocals, guitarist Jimmy Smith, and bassist Walter Gervers,
Foals -- whose name is a play on the etymology of Philippakis' name -- began as a way to
protest against the proggier sounds that were both popular in Oxford and in Philippakis and
Bevan's former band, the Edmund Fitzgerald. After releasing the single "Try This on Your Piano"
in 2006, Mears left Foals in order to more fully concentrate on his other group, Youthmovies
(formerly Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies), and Philippakis -- who had lived until he was
seven in a tiny Grecian village -- added the role of lead vocals to his guitar-playing duties.
Edwin Congreave, a fellow Oxford student the frontman had met when they were both working at
the same bar, and who introduced the group to techno, soon joined in on keyboards, despite the
fact he had never played the instrument before -- nor ever been in a band -- and the full
lineup of Foals was completed. The quintet worked on perfecting its poppy, jittery, upbeat,
math rock/post-punk sound by playing house parties around the area, and soon the group was
signed to Transgressive Records, who released the singles "Hummer" and "Mathletics" in April
and August of 2007, respectively. Foals picked up quite a buzz in the U.K., and in June 2007
they went to New York to record their debut album under the guidance of producer and TV on the
Radio guitarist Dave Sitek. The sessions went well, but the bandmembers ended up not being
happy with the final mix, choosing instead to remix it themselves, and issuing the full-length,
Antidotes -- which, incidentally, included neither "Hummer" nor "Mathletics" -- in March of
2008, while Sub Pop picked up the album in the U.S. and gave it an April release, adding the
two neglected singles as bonus tracks. Two years later the band returned with their sophomore
album, Total Life Forever, released by Transgressive Records. After having songs appear on
shows like Entourage and Misfits, the band returned in 2013 with their third album, the
expansive and more balanced Holy Fire.
Album Review - from allmusic
While there are lots of bands dealing in either danceable rock or navel-gazing pop, few bands
combine the two quite like Foals. On Holy Fire, the third album from the English band, the
post-punk revival is given a newfound sense of depth, creating songs that are rhythmic enough
to draw listeners, but hypnotic enough to leave listeners lost in their wide-open spaces. This
combination of atmosphere and momentum find Foals growing out of the shadows of titans like the
Talking Heads and into a spaced-out, dance-punk niche that's all their own. Though a lot of the
band's charm comes from the delicate interplay between the guitars and keyboards, the real star
of the album comes by way of the massive, stadium-ready "Inhaler," which takes the sparkling,
slow build used throughout the album and turns it on its ear with an eruption of massively
fuzzy, Muse-esque guitars (and, to some extent, their bombast), creating one of the albums
biggest and most rousing moments. Now that they're three albums deep, it feels as if Foals have
found a nice middle ground between funk and feeling, making Holy Fire an album that is just as
likely to get a room moving as it is to send its inhabitants into a fit of introspective
conversation. This kind of duality is something that's hard to find, and it's a quality that
could take Foals a long way if they're able to hold onto it.
Track Listing
1. Prelude
2. Inhaler
3. My Number
4. Bad Habit
5. Everytime
6. Late Night
7. Out of the Woods
8. Milk & Black Spiders
9. Providence
10. Stepson
11. Moon
should have been what I like
or so I thought
only 3 tracks that could possibly grow
clip was the best and it would still take some plays
1.1 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Inhaler
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ_PMvjmC6M
released Feb 12th, 2013
![[Image: MI0003487289.jpg?partner=allrovi.com]](http://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_250/MI0003/487/MI0003487289.jpg?partner=allrovi.com)
Bio - from allmusic
Formed in Oxford, England, by longtime friends Yannis Philippakis (guitar) and Jack Bevan
(drums), along with Andrew Mears on vocals, guitarist Jimmy Smith, and bassist Walter Gervers,
Foals -- whose name is a play on the etymology of Philippakis' name -- began as a way to
protest against the proggier sounds that were both popular in Oxford and in Philippakis and
Bevan's former band, the Edmund Fitzgerald. After releasing the single "Try This on Your Piano"
in 2006, Mears left Foals in order to more fully concentrate on his other group, Youthmovies
(formerly Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies), and Philippakis -- who had lived until he was
seven in a tiny Grecian village -- added the role of lead vocals to his guitar-playing duties.
Edwin Congreave, a fellow Oxford student the frontman had met when they were both working at
the same bar, and who introduced the group to techno, soon joined in on keyboards, despite the
fact he had never played the instrument before -- nor ever been in a band -- and the full
lineup of Foals was completed. The quintet worked on perfecting its poppy, jittery, upbeat,
math rock/post-punk sound by playing house parties around the area, and soon the group was
signed to Transgressive Records, who released the singles "Hummer" and "Mathletics" in April
and August of 2007, respectively. Foals picked up quite a buzz in the U.K., and in June 2007
they went to New York to record their debut album under the guidance of producer and TV on the
Radio guitarist Dave Sitek. The sessions went well, but the bandmembers ended up not being
happy with the final mix, choosing instead to remix it themselves, and issuing the full-length,
Antidotes -- which, incidentally, included neither "Hummer" nor "Mathletics" -- in March of
2008, while Sub Pop picked up the album in the U.S. and gave it an April release, adding the
two neglected singles as bonus tracks. Two years later the band returned with their sophomore
album, Total Life Forever, released by Transgressive Records. After having songs appear on
shows like Entourage and Misfits, the band returned in 2013 with their third album, the
expansive and more balanced Holy Fire.
Album Review - from allmusic
While there are lots of bands dealing in either danceable rock or navel-gazing pop, few bands
combine the two quite like Foals. On Holy Fire, the third album from the English band, the
post-punk revival is given a newfound sense of depth, creating songs that are rhythmic enough
to draw listeners, but hypnotic enough to leave listeners lost in their wide-open spaces. This
combination of atmosphere and momentum find Foals growing out of the shadows of titans like the
Talking Heads and into a spaced-out, dance-punk niche that's all their own. Though a lot of the
band's charm comes from the delicate interplay between the guitars and keyboards, the real star
of the album comes by way of the massive, stadium-ready "Inhaler," which takes the sparkling,
slow build used throughout the album and turns it on its ear with an eruption of massively
fuzzy, Muse-esque guitars (and, to some extent, their bombast), creating one of the albums
biggest and most rousing moments. Now that they're three albums deep, it feels as if Foals have
found a nice middle ground between funk and feeling, making Holy Fire an album that is just as
likely to get a room moving as it is to send its inhabitants into a fit of introspective
conversation. This kind of duality is something that's hard to find, and it's a quality that
could take Foals a long way if they're able to hold onto it.
Track Listing
1. Prelude
2. Inhaler
3. My Number
4. Bad Habit
5. Everytime
6. Late Night
7. Out of the Woods
8. Milk & Black Spiders
9. Providence
10. Stepson
11. Moon