The Foals - Total Life Forever - Review

The Foals - Total Life Forever

The Foals are a unique band. Though they fit into the “rock band” mould, they still don’t. For starters, the music. Is it rock? Is it pop? Is it dance? WHAT!? It’s a question you couldn’t answer after their stupendous first album “Antidotes”. After ‘Total Life Forever’ however, it’s clear. They’re all three. Second, they’re from Oxford. What’s that all about?

Most bands [Example, The Strokes], after great first albums, get the dreaded second album syndrome. ie, they start making shitty music in comparison to their stellar debuts. No one can put Foals into the same category though. The album is clear, powerful piece of music. It sounds like a combination of dirty dance moves, bleary eyed hangovers, and foot-tapping late night parties. Whereas ‘Antidotes’ was nervous and an oddity, this album is a worthy successor to it. It sounds self-assured, confident, but not arrogant and straightforward classy. I’m afraid to say that “Mathletics” has competition as the best Foals song, mainly coming from “Blue Blood”, “Miami” and “Black Gold”. That’s not to take anything away from the other tracks though; each one holds its own individually. The glue that holds this album together is “Spanish Sahara”. Spanish Sahara can be best described as an orgasm. Yes. An orgasm.

It begins like anything else, and nothing else. A gentle, haunting noise in your head. It glides over you and relaxes you, but you never relax. You’re still on edge, nervous, wondering what will happen. Your anxiety is heightened by Yannis’ rolling voice and misty lyrics, and you start to feel the song/you move towards the familiar outbreak of pleasure, and just when you can’t take it anymore, and your about to cross the threshold, it stops, going back to it’s gentle humming. Pleasure becomes Pain. Pain becomes Pleasure. Then it starts all over again. The twinkle-toed drumming. The feather light guitar. The squeaked keyboards. The patient bass. And Yannis’ beautiful voice. And this time it does get too much, and you/the song lets go, in a fiery outbreak of pure ecstasy. Spanish Sahara will blow your head off.

‘This Orient’ is a pop song that sounds like a sober version of The Strokes. It’s the popiest on this album. And perhaps the easiest to skip next on.

The biggest single change on this album is the melodic singing, and the romantically abstract lyrics. [You’ve got the blood on your hands, I think it’s my own – Blue Blood] or [Would you betray me, or save me from you – Miami] or even better [The future’s not what it used to be – Black Gold] or the words that are on every Indie lover boy’s lips [It’s your heart that gives me this western feeling – This Orient]

Another big highlight of this album is the track ‘Alabaster’. Pure musical erotica. It caresses your ears and sooths your mind. Wonderful after a long and hard day.

The Foals have shown that they’re not lightweights, and aren’t jolly prettyboys with 2 good songs. This album is already a contender to Number 1 of the year, and holds itself even among its more illustrious colleagues. Fuck Bloc Party, The Foals are the best Indie band around right now.