U.K. art rockers Foals specialize in arena-size intricacy — anthemic art pop rich with detailed guitar churn, latticed beats and luminous electronics. Their fourth and best album plays up a dark, bracing urgency, especially on the explosive title track, where Yannis Philippakis hollers over low-slung, fuzzed-out riffing and high-octane drum pummel. Songs like "Snake Oil" add funk stomp and blues-metal muscle, suggesting Foals' Oxford, England, homeys Radiohead at their most visceral. "Now that we're older/The future is colder," Philippakis sings on "A Knife in the Ocean," and every song here spins something epic out of that dread.
What Went Down
British band unleashes the beast within on its best album yet

Foals Photo: Nabil Elderkin PUBLICITY 2015 via sam@bbgunpr.com
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