Often there comes a time in the progression of a band, usually between album number 1 and album number 2, that they find themselves conflicted between two different sounds. It happened with Nirvana, post bleach. Radiohead, Matchbook Romance, Red Hot Chili Peppers and even Minus The Bear who traded noodly-math-ambience for a zig zaggy melodic structure.
The same can be thought of with Foals. It became apparent upon the release of Antidotes that the dancefloor indie pop sound of ‘Hummer’ and ‘Matheletics’ was on the way out and a much darker, more sinister melody was creeping in more evident on ‘Electric Bloom’ and ‘Big Big Love’.
tlf takes that ball, and runs with it. The entire album has more in common with ‘Brazil is Here’, ‘Humanate’ and the other b-sides in respect of the Antidotes single club.
Here the yelping and gnarling vocals have been trading for more soothing educated structure with more thought provoking lyrics. For me Foals have always been a progressive band, birthed out of a “college indie rock scene” friendly sound found on ‘Two Steps Twice’, growing into a darker, more edgy pop band with ‘Red Sox Pugie’ and finally culminating into an educated and expressive alternative band with ‘Miami’ and ‘After Glow’.
The typical undertones you feel accross the spectrum are still there, but Foals are now a totally different animal.
