Track Listing

1. The French Open
2. Cassius
3. Red Socks Pugie
4. Olympic Airways
5. Electric Bloom
6. Balloons
7. Heavy Water
8. Two Steps, Twice
9. Big Big Love (Fig.2)
10. Like Swimming
11. Tron

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3031 in Music
• Released on: 2008-03-24
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
It's hardly the cure for anything but Antidotes, the debut album from Oxford's Foals, is a strong addition to the eternal tradition of dance-friendly art rock most recently exemplified by Franz Ferdinand and Klaxons. The five ex-public schoolboys that make up Oxford's Foals are hardly lacking self-confidence--comically cocky frontman Yannis Phillipakis could annoy for the nation and the band rejected producer David Sitek's original mix--but Antidotes is anything but pony. After spending their youth in rigorous "math rock" outfits, Foals started out in 2005 with the stated intention of having fun. Rather delightfully, this amounted to the discovery that audiences are well disposed to acts they can dance to. A clutch of well-received singles and a guest spot on popular sixth-form satire Skins sealed their popularity. Their origins in academic rock are sometimes obvious, but fine drummer Jack Bevan keeps things moving throughout. Opener "The French Open", with its gleeful chanted vocals (in French) and fashionable Afrobeat tinged guitar lines, evokes Talking Heads' dada nonsense classic "I Zimbra", itself older than any Foal. First top thirty hit "Cassius" saw jazz-punk back in the charts for the first time since that perennial football crowd favourite "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag". "Olympic Airways" is a charming if oblique tale of escape that couldn't be further from the bus stop/chip shop style while "Red Socks Pugie" already sounds like a single in waiting. The lyrics might charitably be described as impressionistic and Phillipakis's voice remains nondescript. But with better tunes than Bloc Party and a self-conscious precision that recalls Mogwai in their pomp, the effortlessly pretentious Foals are unmistakably the sound of 2008. --Steve Jelbert

CD Description
'Antidotes' is the debut album from Foals. An experimental-yet-danceable selection that shows impressive scope, this isan indie record that is at home on the dancefloor as it is coming out of your stereo. Includes the single 'Cassius'.

About the Artist
What links the minimalism of American composer Steve Reich, guitars that sound like insects and tennis player Andy Roddick? The answer is one word: Foals. The explanation is a bit more complicated. Let's start at the beginning. Foals are a five-piece dance-rock band currently living in their home town Oxford. Yannis Philippakis (20, vocals/guitar), Edwin Congreave (22, keyboards), Walter Gervers (23, bass), Jimmy Smith (22, guitar) and Jack Bevan (21, drums) met in their native city, where they bonded over a shared sense of humour. Bored with the interchangeable electro records they heard at every party, they decided to make the kind of music they wanted to dance to. "We wanted to make music that was very technical, that wasn't just party music, but at the same time you could dance to it," explains Yannis.

First they christened themselves Foals. It was a nod to Yannis' surname, which means "little lover of horses" in Greek. "I like Foals because it's a nice word and it doesn't give away what the band is about," he explains. "It sounds fresh and new."

Then they installed themselves in a tiny rehearsal room and started bouncing ideas off one another. Tensions ran high. "I was shocked by how critical every one was of each other," says Edwin. "We've always been very self-critical," expands Yannis. "There was an almost dangerous amount of criticism." If the high-pressure atmosphere strained intra-band relations, they quickly identified a winning formula: driving percussion high in the mix, guitars played above the 12th fret, no chords and splashes of synth colour. The result was pristine, perfectly formed dance rock such as Balloons, Hummer and Two Steps Twice.

Live, Foals don't so much fizz with energy as explode like a well-shaken bottle of champagne. "It's like we're all battling for supremacy on stage," says Edwin. The dance-inflected beats have seen them rock venues ranging from the kitchen at a house party to London warehouse parties.

The sometimes surreal lyrical imagery is complimented by Foals' artwork, all of which is created by the "sixth member of the band", Tinhead. "He creates something visual that matches what we want the music to sound like," says Yannis. "There are all these weird lines, humming birds and bright colours.

But what about Andy Roddick?

"I read a book by David Foster Wallace called Infinite Jest," says Yannis. "It's about drugs and tennis. I'm fascinated with tennis. I like Roddick because he's an all American hero; he could be out of The Great Gatsby. He's got the fastest serve ever. It's beautiful. It's like ballet. It's so clinical. I'm more into Andy Roddick than any musician. I based the lyrics for our song The French Open on the Andy Roddick/Lacost advert."

"No, we don't understand his obsession with Roddick either," says Edwin.

A strange story then. But already a fascinating one. And it's only just started.

Customer Reviews

The album is finally here
Having first heard Foals a while back, I was instantly drawn to their music. I downloaded a few demos last year before all the hype started and was really impressed.Their use of multiple layers and time signatures leaves the listener slightly confused but ultimately amazed.
The only thing wrong with the album is prodction. The whole point of Foals' music is that it is multi layed and raw, and this album has lost some of that. Seeing them live will really make the listener appreciate them fully. Personally I dont like the use of saxaphone, and many of the songs have changed drastically from the original demos, mainly being mellowed out.

The 2cd version is the better deal, you get live recordings, which show what the main album was getting at, it just couldnt quite get there

Overall a good album for someone that is tired of typical indie and who wants to be absorbed into something very different.

The wind is in my heart

Here's a minor prediction for the musical year -- the Foals just might be the Next Really Big Thing in indie-rock.

Yeah, someone says that about a fledgling band every year, sometimes more than once. But this little Oxford band has what it takes, and "Antidotes" is a gloriously energetic debut album -- mellow, bright rock'n'roll that makes you dance and bounce, yet has some postrock spaciness, nimble electronics and clever funky twists to keep things interesting. And it actually gets better as it goes on.

It opens on a relatively simple note -- "The French Open," an jazzy-funky little pop intro that periodically erupts into solid dancy rock. "Un peu d'air sur la terre/D'air sur la/D'air sur la/D'air sur la terre!"

With that as the intro, they leap wholeheartedly into the cocky, rollicking "Cassius," with its muscular riffs and confusingly jabby lyrics ("Cassius, it's over! You're second best!"). And with "Red Sock Pugie," we get another catchy indie-rock melody -- but wrapped in a shimmering post-rock blanket, riddled with kettle drums.

And most of the songs that follow linger somewhere between those two styles -- ringing circling pop with convulsing violins, moody rock tunes, fast funky dance music, fast-moving spacey tunes with airy fantastical lyrics, and a shimmering pop anthem in "Big Big Love (Fig. 2)."

The Foals seem to wind down the album with the catchy "Like Swimming," a little instrumental that sounds like eavesdropping on a tropical pool party. Then they yank you back up for the final song "Tron," a dark little rocker with tight, muscular instrumentation and chirruping guitars.

The Foals don't seem satisfied just by making music that makes you dance -- they seem to be striving for something cool yet fun, clever yet not pretentious. And they apparently want a mishmash style -- if you listen carefully, the indie-rock sound is infused with elements of funk, dance, and shimmering hazy spaciness. All this, and it's fun too.

Part of what makes their music so appealing is the versatility -- we've got powerful bouncy riffs, undercurrents of grainy bass, and solid, hollow-sounding drums keeping the music energetic. But they can also make those instruments do some very odd things -- their guitars alone are a sonic circus, chirping or creaking or spiraling around in glittering loops.

And then you get the really out-there stuff -- blares of Afrobeat brass, the occasional kettle drums, shimmers of keyboard, and some pedal guita to, as it's been reported around the Web, "mimic the sound of the solar system." I don't really know what a solar system sounds like, but I presume that's the gloriously spacey, shimmery sound that wafts through most of these songs.

Yannis Philippakis always sounds like he's about to run out of breath, but his flexible voice has enough energy to keep up with the music. And for a beginner band, the Foals have a knack for lyrics, filled with "butcher birds," falling towers, nameless fuels, exploding hearts, and eating clouds to pass the time when you're not fighting vampires. Isn't that great?

The Foals at first sound like just another art-rock band, but these guys have a special knack for effortlessly mixing elaborate cross-genre indie-rock with energetic dance. Keep an eye on these lads.

Only so much
Having first heard Foals a while back, I was instantly drawn to their music. I downloaded a few demos last year before all the hype started and was really impressed.Their use of multiple layers and time signatures leaves the listener slightly confused but ultimately amazed.
The only thing wrong with the album is prodction. The whole point of Foals' music is that it is multi layed and raw, and this album has lost some of that. Seeing them live will really make the listener appreciate them fully. Personally I dont like the use of saxaphone, and many of the songs have changed drastically from the original demos, mainly being mellowed out.

The 2cd version is the better deal, you get live recordings, which show what the main album was getting at, it just couldnt quite get there

Overall a good album for someone that is tired of typical indie and who wants to be absorbed into something very different.