Foals’ reputation as one of the best live acts of the current generation should by no means detract from their recorded efforts; what is kinetic energy on stage drips and pulses through the grooves of both the vinyl and the music itself. Even their spinning wax can elicit more rapture than many live acts today, still you can’t help but feel What Went Down is the best advertisement for an impending tour a band could hope for.
Absolutely massacring the starting gate with the title track, guitarist and vocalist Yannis Philippakis and co. conquest straight through the heavier territories they had only previously visited with “Inhaler.” Complete with cover art evoking the horror movie style of The Ring, it’s a downright animalist and violent first impression. Recorded in the same village in the south of France where, according to the press release, "Van Gogh was hospitalised after savaging his own ear,” you have to wonder if there's something in the water; “What Went Down” savages your ears just the same, one steamrolling riff and punchy howl at a time. Philippakis claims to have "buried his heart in a pit in the south,” and if he’s truly left part of himself in that soil we can only imagine what will grow out of it next.
In terms of the track listing it's quickly revealed what follows, however. “I drive my car without the breaks,” Philippakis recklessly informs in the radio ready yet earnest “Mountain At My Gates,” but with the way he expertly steers through the hazardous path you can enjoy the throttling ride. "Birch Tree” then implores “Meet me by the river / See how time flows,” nodding to the evolution of the Oxfordshire rockers’ discographical transition.
“The city I was born in / Left a long time ago,” he recalls over jumpy guitar reminiscent of “Total Life Forever.” Having come far from their mathy and youthful debut Antidotes to the angsty, self-exploratory sprawl of Total Life Forever, Foals breakout album was arguably 2013’s Holy Fire on which they honed their seeping vulnerability and visceral guitar hooks into a full-bodied masterpiece. That veteran professionalism expands on their newest LP, and while its newfound comfort verges on the slippery slope to arena rock at times it never falls prey to the completely jaded polish of rock stars past their prime. The scent of blood and the hunger that drives them towards it is still there, even if it’s smeared across Philippakis own face now post-fistfight. Aggressive, confident, and tight, they’ve unabashedly taken "over your town;” no longer looking for space, Foals have found it and are asserting dominance over it.
It may be the fullest sounding record they’ve made, but with this increase in depth comes the least dynamism they’ve exhibited in a while, slowing down from then on to hit a bit of a midrange that consumes the majority of the record. “Give It All” explores a hint of oriental melodies behind its unequivocally English breakup lament “But you’re there by the tube stop in the freezing rain / You caught the bus and I caught the train / All that remains are words in the rain,” while “Albatross” carefully ascends like a more bombastic Coldplay. This lull is still just "the shade of a thunder cloud,” though, as the smooth sailing soon thrusts us over the rocky rapids adorning a sheer cliff-face, leaving us to hold on for dear life.
Unlike the name suggests, “Snake Oil” is the real deal, giving What Went Down its second peak to rival the high-flying opening. Rumbling along before lashing out venomously, “Snake Oil” is an earthquake in a hurricane and it takes hold of you with a most raucous and primal eruption of adrenaline, leaving you longing for that date circled on your calendar when Philippakis can smash it into your face in person. With lyrical moments of classic pop platitude like "You cast a spell that keeps me wired / Keeps me red, keeps me on fire,” it’s not the deepest of sentiments in Foals’ repertoire, but it’s one of the most boldly presented, and with a body like that, who cares?
From “Night Swimmers” superb afrobeat drive to the vaguely twisted-Lorde sway of "London Thunder”’s emotional self-awareness, the sea storm then settles to gently lapping waves with “A Knife In The Ocean”'s rolling takeoff into a restless end.
So what went down? A turntable stylus, a hapless swimmer, and 49 minutes of unadulterated power that never seems heavy handed, valleys that never seem lazy, and, if you’re lucky enough to be there, Philippakis himself as his body leaves the stage and lands on top of you.
What Went Down is available now via Warner Music. You can buy it here.