Band: FOALS Who: British top star quartet from Oxford led by
Greece born singer-songwriter Yannis Philippakis Active: Since 2005 / 7 studio LPs (new one included)
NME says: “An album to be filed alongside Primal Scream‘s ‘Screamadelica’,
New Order’s ‘Technique’ and LCD’s ‘Sound Of Silver’ as one of those records
that makes you move, but with no cheap thrills.” Score: 4/5.
TUTV: This new one made see the light, finally, after their other hit LPs. Foals are Sly & The Family Stone 21st Century British indie band. Again
they come back with a non-stop jukebox of funky soul earworms driven by
bouncy guitar sparks, beats after beats after beats, and Yannis Philippakis
ardent vocals. They will set (once again) several green fields on fire this
summer.
Singles/clips:2001 / 2AM / Looking High / Crest Of The Wave
Yannis Philippakis (frontman/songwriter)about LOOKING HIGH: “This is looking back to a more hedonistic time in my life, and a more innocent time in society in general, pre-pandemic and before the existential threat of climate change,” Yannis Philippakis says. “It takes place in an alley in Oxford with two clubs – The Cellar and The Wheatsheaf – that all the city’s nightlife gravitated towards. It was before clubs started to close down and our cities started to change into more corporate, arid places. There’s an element of being haunted by nightlife that’s no longer there.”
Band: KILLING JOKE Who: Post-industrial-punk veterans from London Active: 1979–1996, 2002–present / 15 LPs
with Pylon as their latest, released 7 years ago.
Band: FOALS Who: Oxford 4-piece led by frontstar Yannis Philippakis (Greek father, Ukrainian Jewish mother) Active: Since 2005 / 7 studio LPs (new one included)
New single: 2AM
After Wake Me Up the second taster from the upcoming full lenght
Philippakis: “Musically ‘2am’ is one of the poppiest songs we’ve ever written.
It’s about repetitive cycles of destructive behaviour, which I think lots of people
can relate to, and certainly, it’s an expression of something that I struggle with.
There’s something cathartic about expressing that feeling to this upbeat music
that’s got a sense of release and the hope of resolution.”
A high-powered Foals show again that they’re a fervent funk machine.
Get up and shake your booty, folks…
The second single from their 11th LP
called Wild Loneliness, out 25 February.
Mac McCaughan (guitarist) About: “Like much of Wild Loneliness, this song was
written in the mode of “let’s look around and be thankful for what we have rather
than focusing on what Republicans have taken from an entire generation.”
Almost three years after their debut album Silver Tongues this must-hear
post-punk hit team returns with follow-up Beware Believers, out 1st of April.
James Cox (frontman): “Slowly Separate is about living in London, working a job
you hate and just going through the mundane routine of hand to mouth living.”
A blazing uppercut with the
cutting force of a chainsaw.
I’m not a big fan of remixes unless the remixer – in this case, electro duo Flight Facilities – transforms a head-dazzling rocker into a head-dazzling
disco stomper that works like a vaccination with a shot of adrenalin.
I’m sure that this Big Apple indie squad has all Parquet Courts records on their shelves. You already could hear it on their 2019 debut album Endless Scroll and their second one, titled Broken Equipment looks to go in the same direction when hearing new single Thrown.
Not original but tumbling
and revolving nevertheless…
7. ‘Fraggle Rock Rock’ by FOO FIGHTERS (Seattle, US)
Seems like Dave Grohl and his Fighters adore the spotlights
and do anything to have them shine on them every day.
Check this… children’s television series Fraggle Rock gets a full revival on Apple TV+ and yes, you already guessed it, the Foos are among the musical guests on the show. For the occasion, they wrote this bonkers retro rocker that triggers your laughing muscles.
British indie-rock heroes FOALS enjoyed playing, safely live,
before with their CCTV Sessions, and continue to do so.
Here’s why… “It’s just about hearing the songs unadorned by production and
seeing the band in a weird, parallel universe. It’s cool how dusty and primitive-
sounding some of them are when we flip the aesthetic of the songs on their head.
There’s also something in the fact that they’re captured by CCTV cameras. We forget
that we’re being filmed which makes it all feel very rough, ready and unadorned.”
says maestro Yannis Philippakis.
British highly popular band FOALS at Radio 1’s Piano Sessions last weekend played a gripping, stripped-down piano version of two songs ‘Sunday’ and ‘Birch Tree’, one from each of their two ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’ part 1 & 2 albums from 2019.