This year Foals
came back, having in mind their past, rather quickly, with a new record, “What
Went Down”, that was released on 28 August via Transgressive. The wait was
fuelled by releases of yet two more bangers – the title track, “What Went Down”
and “Mountain at My Gate” – and later, a more Foal-esque “A Knife in The Ocean”,
the closing track of the record. The band rambled about ‘channelling my inner
madman’ (said Yannis Philippakis, the authoritative frontman), recording in
France, in the asylum, where poor van Gogh spent his time after cutting his ear
off, and doing so (recording, that is) whilst indulging themselves in the
emptying of 30 bottles of wine. Challenging oneself and stepping out of the
comfort zone have always being key words in a Foals interview, yet this time
they seemed to indicate the arrival of something great and staggering.
“What Went Down”
starts as bold as it possibly could: with the title track, that is the best
song on the album and that smashes your brains instantly. I was surprised to
see many people complain that “What Went Down” is not as massive a lead single
as “Inhaler” was – for me it’s the opposite: where “Inhaler” lacks lasting effect
and doesn’t maintain the power throughout (honestly, I failed to fall in love
with that song to this day), “What Went Down” strikes hard and doesn’t think
twice. But this time Foals go even deeper and harder. The 3/4 time and the synth
madness plus the fully controlled dynamics and unmatched impetus – all drives
this to a huge cathartic finish. The second track, “Mountain at My Gate”, on
the other hand, fails to impress in the same way (if that is possible at all) –
it sounds even less Foals than the first track, the guitar work being somewhat
boring and uninspired. The chorus, on the other hand, is wonderful and massive
once again, but the other parts fail to maintain the dynamics while the
screaming and stumping ending has always for some unclear reasons reminded me
of the Wild West and dreadful American country music…
“Birch Tree”,
after all, reassures you that you’re actually listening to a Foals record… Yet
it brings not some pleasant “Antidotes” or glorious “Spanish Sahara” or “Black
Gold” memories, but a blurry hangover from “Miami”. If I didn’t find “Mountain
at My Gate” convincing, this track I find slightly annoying. The next cut, “Give
it All” reminds me of the unlikely likes of Coldplay… Rather bland lyricism
rivals with rather interesting ambience not at all reminiscent of “Total Life
Forever”… ‘Give me the red light turning green’ – gently (?!) mumbles Yannis
only to shout on top of his voice in the closing section of the song, while
Jack Bevan adds some drama on drums. Here Foals again sound like themselves but
their mature selves…
“Albatross”,
once again, sorry for my sometimes inappropriate associations, reminds me of
Coldplay (“God Put a Smile upon Your Face”, in particular) and Radiohead as
well. While the vocal melody is something rather pleasant, the lyrics don’t cut
it once again. Of course, the main metaphor is really neat and worth praise. The
drums and unexpected dominance of synth takes charge and brings the whole thing
to life. However, the production often overshadows the song itself. “Snake Oil”
reminds me of Interpol’s “Roland”, even if a rather electronic take on
something like that, while at the same time looking back at some early day
eccentrics (“Tron”, “Astronauts and All”), but here again it seems slipping
away into the glorious land of British lad rock a la Arctic Monkeys (producer James Ford may be the missing link),
a place I consciously try to avoid, with worn-out riffs and swag, and slick
production. However, here comes “Night Swimmers” and saves the day: clear
high-pitched guitars, masterful bass from Walter Gervers and always top notch
percussion from Jack Bevan gives you hope. And when Philippakis screams
‘Skyyyyyyyyyyyy’, you see the sky. So, finally, I found something. Here Foals
sound really being themselves, just even better.
But after the
hazy summery world of “Night Swimmers”, it all turns into gloom with “London
Thunder”, that reiterates one of the common themes of the album lyrically – aging and coming back. Here the guitar is again deeper and darker, while Philippakis
mumbles sadly. Yet the chorus sounds way too pop and way too predictable to truly
impress. “Lonely Hunter” is a deeper take and even if it reminds me of
Interpol’s “My Blue Supreme” somehow, but here a confident Philipakis takes
control and the music follows suit.
The last song, “A
Knife in The Ocean”, perhaps the longest to date Foals song (at least to be
released on an album), gives this cold and serious air of being gracious like
nothing else. Here Yannis once again finds a way to sing in a moving way and be
quite meaningful at the same time while Jimmy Smith finds some overlooked
effect pedals to fool around with. At last some inventive and interesting
music. The song is huge but in quite a different way than the opener is. Here
Foals do not simply try to mimic “Spanish Sahara” as they apparently did on “Late
Night” from “Holy Fire”, but invent a similar yet new way to do something as
big. However, just like with ‘London Thunder’, the chorus sounds a bit too
whimsical and reminds one of a drunken sing-along in a pub. But I can’t pretend
to dislike this song. A grand way to close an album.
One can ask, why
do I constantly check with myself about this or that sounding ‘like’ Foals or
not sounding like Foals. Well, to me this band seem to have their own
aesthetic, a kind of charm that other bands don’t have and this kind of sound
that I found in “Antidotes” and “Total Life Forever” is embedded in my head as
the standard of Foals, a yardstick against which I unconsciously measure all
that I have heard from the band since getting first acquainted with their first
two albums. Is there any point in it? I guess no, especially given that things
have changed, a lot being lost ‘in the hungry sea’ (the closing track) perhaps
and perhaps the band themselves feel better now – a thing I tend to value. You
can hear that in so many songs on “What Went Down” Philippakis sounds far more
confident and stronger than on previous albums, even than on “Holy Fire”. Songs
like “Night Swimmers” and “A Knife in the Ocean” strongly remind me of the ‘old
Foals’, but here the lead singer is more confident and comfortable with himself
and you can’t blame him for that… But other songs, say, “Mountain at My Gates”
or “Snake Oil” sound simply unfamiliar and remind you of the annoying kind of
indie that is the shtick of Kasabian and Arctic Monkeys.
The other thing
the band tended to repeat before the release was channelling your inner madman,
according to Philippakis. And I cannot find it anything but morbid to boast
about staying where van Gogh after cutting his ear stayed… Honestly, this
romanticising of ‘going mad’, ‘being batshit crazy’ is overestimated and is
potentially dangerous. As someone with real mental problems, I hardly find such
things ‘cool’ and ‘trending’. But, after all, listening to this record
throughout, I didn’t notice anything mad and anything that could be called
stepping outside your comfort zone. Is shouting on top of your voice how people
imagine ‘getting mad’? Hmm, then yes, the title track and “Mountain at My Gates”,
along with a few more moments in other songs can supply your dose of
comfortable madness, ladies and gentlemen. The lyrics, too, don’t give any
insights into the darkest crevices, in his own words, of Philippakis’s mind –
but what they do, is things like ‘Lost my mind in San Francisco/A worn out
disco, temper’s cool’ (on “London Thunder”) that for me sound kind of too easy.
Of course, the singer finds moments of glory here and there (“Birch Tree” and “A
Knife in the Ocean” most notably), and such episodes as the one mentioned above
occur fairly rarely, but just as rarely as he genuinely, there in those dark
crevices, strikes gold. The overall aesthetic of “Mountain at My Gates” and the
closing track (partially) are good examples too, while the best song of the
record, “What Went Down”, lyrically lacks its own aesthetic, rather borrowing
from here and there (‘So stay away kid, you’ll never be found/While you were
sleeping I took over you town…’). But nothing here is madder than anything that
could be found on any previous record by the band. Driving cars without the
breaks and running bloody after a (casual and random, huh) fistfight reiterates
the ‘let’s go mad’ narrative but only in a superficial way.
But, does “What
Went Down” go down, at least in the lineage of Foals albums? While most of my
review might look like leading to an unsatisfactory mark, I wouldn’t be so
harsh, after all. As a whole, as record, this album sounds better than “Holy
Fire”. It’s somewhat hard to imagine a band making a record that is without any
weak moments whatsoever (such records, of course, do exist), and even the
marvellous “Total Life Forever” did have its weaker takes, like “Miami”. I
wasn’t that comfortable with “Holy Fire”, apart from a few stronger cuts, by
the way, the ones mostly overlooked, while this album at times, not throughout,
though, sounds more welcoming and more confident. Thus, what’s the conclusion?
Foals do their thing – nowadays it’s not actually the same thing they did in
2007, nor in 2010, but it’s still their thing mostly – maybe not as mad as they
wish it to be, but this record has it’s big moments, found both in the ferocity
and even more often in the thoughtful calm. What I find kind of sad is that
post rock influences and huge reverb, like on “A Knife in The Ocean” are almost
extinct here, while I find more post punk and alternative rock, and sometimes
it does seem closer to the early days than “Holy Fire” did. More than a few
times “What Went Down” is a welcoming and gripping record by a strong band that
never completely disappoints.
Foals:
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http://www.foals.co.uk/
Buy “What Went Down” here:
https://itunes.apple.com/lt/album/what-went-down/id1003779288
http://www.thestereoboutique.com/en/s/foals?intcmp=121205/foals/wbr/ctt/s_hp/txt/bdy/uk/store
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ZG493NU?tag=smarturl-gb-21
