Foals' math-rock leanings and guitars that never seem to slip below the 7th fret worked well on a number of singles to date. However the aforementioned "Hummer", possibly their most well known song thanks to a certain Skins, and "Mathletics", their second single, do not feature apart from on the special edition bonus disc. Which seems a bit silly. Especially as they would be the best tracks.
However, that isn't to say that whats left isn't any good. Forthcoming single "Red Socks Pugie" starts off like Battles with clean vocals and soon continues in a much poppier vein. "Olympic Airways" starts with the same Battles-esque avant-garde guitar shapes that eventually come together later on, as if guitarists Yannis and Jack want to introduce everyone to all the notes they'll be using in that song.
It seems as if Foals are some sort of "gateway" band, channelling the spirits of their math-rock heroes (Wikipedia says Yannis' favourite band are cult math-rock outfit Sweep The Leg Jonny) and making the music poppy and accessible.
To a point.
There's not really a bad track on the album, but it gets to a stage where the formula, which appears so complex at first sight, becomes so easy you could probably predict the next instrument to enter the fray, the point where the chorus will drop in, when that quiet bit they always have in the middle is going to end or which note the guitars will choose to repeat over and over next. Some would say this is a good position to be in, but I disagree. Although admittedly the end results of each song is of similar quality - they're all pretty good - the album suffers.
"Balloons" and "Two Steps Twice" stand out for me, but only because I remember hearing them live. They are probably the most danceable on the album, but every other track sounds like them. "Electric Broom" and closer "Tron" are a happy experiment with synth noise, but still with the same Foals cliches.
Ultimately Foals have made an album that they wanted to make. On one hand I respect them for that, they haven't churned out some filler nor have they stuck their biggest tracks in the album just because. On the other hand, the album doesn't flow particularly well either, and the tracks that have made it on can't really replace those that were sacrificed.
If you do get a copy of this album, make sure you get the bonus disc, which not only include Hummer and Mathletics, but an early Foals set from The Liars Club in Nottingham and a couple of B-sides.
7/10
Antidotes is out now via Transgressive in the UK on April 8th via Sub Pop in the USA.
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