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I can't stop listening to FOALS

Orayn

Orayn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,055
I've had Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt. 1 on heavy rotation for almost two weeks now. Absolutely fantastic album.



In particular, the sequence of Exits, White Onions, In Degrees, Syrups, and On the Luna might be my favorite ~22 minutes of any album I've ever listened to. The electronic bits, the driving basslines, the parts where it gets a bit more spacy and distorted, it's all solid gold. Reminds me of both White Denim and The Talking Heads, which is quite a strange combination.

Does anyone have any recs that scratch a similar itch? Apart from the rest of their catalogue.
 
Mars

Mars

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,988
Thank you so much for this thread!!! ...no BS, been trying to remember the name of this band after hearing one of their songs on the radio. And yes.
 
Meg Cherry

Meg Cherry

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,332
Seattle, WA
Everything Everything ended up being the band that got me deeper into FOALS (EE's basist toured with FOALS for awhile). A Fever Dream is probably the best album to start with if you want a good jumping on point.



Also, while it obviously won't be possible for awhile - make it a priority to see FOALS live. They have some of the most high energy shows in the rock game right now, along with a beautifully violent pit experience. There's a tour doc/concert film (Rip Up The Road) on Amazon Prime that captures some of that energy, if you want a peek.
 
Ravelle

Ravelle

Member
Oct 31, 2017
17,895
Foals is fantastic, Life is Strange is what got me in to them.

Spanish Saharah is the song that hooked me.
 
OP
OP
Orayn

Orayn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,055
Will check out Everything Everything, thank you!

Mars said:
Thank you so much for this thread!!! ...no BS, been trying to remember the name of this band after hearing one of their songs on the radio. And yes.
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Probably Inhaler, Mountain at My Gates, or What Went Down, those all got a good amount of radio play. I was a big fan of all those for quite a while until I decided to finally dive in and listen to more.
 
Jerm

Jerm

The Fallen
Oct 31, 2017
5,809
I haven't listened to anything since Antidotes which I still listen to occasionally but I always hear it only got better from there.
 
devon the dude

devon the dude

Member
Oct 27, 2017
185
Love foals! Incredible live band. They have/had a great doc on amazon prime that is absolutely worth checking out for fans and non fans alike. Had tickets to see their tour with local natives before covid cancelled everything
 
Blue Ninja

Blue Ninja

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,805
Belgium
Love Foals, glad to see a thread about them! I never really got into their stuff pre-Holy Fire, but loved What Went Down and ENSWBL.

Saw them live in '19, amazing show. Unfortunately it was before ENSWBL pt. 2 was out, so I didn't see some of those songs. No London Thunder, either. But Exits and Inhaler were goddamn great experiences.

I loved ENSWBL pt. 1 when it came out, but pt. 2 is imo even better. Ever since it came out, it's been in my rotation pretty much non-stop. Neptune is my most played song of 2020. Pretty sure it was London Thunder in 2017 and Exits in 2019.



I could listen to that song all day.
 
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Uncle Classy

Uncle Classy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
115
Man, Foals is probably the band with the most credit of getting me into the indie scene back in college. Total Life Forever was my ish for the longest time. Everything Not Saved pt. 1 sounded like a real return to form for me, after finding What Went Down to be their most "meh" offering.

Also love to see the Everything Everything love. One of my all time favs, as well. I've been fortunate enough to catch them a few times while touring the US. Personally, I'd say Get to Heaven is a better jumping on point than A Fever Dream, or hell, even Arc. Every one or their albums is worth a front-to-back listen, though, even Man Alive.
 
teruterubozu

teruterubozu

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,020
Easily the best modern rock band out there today. Yannis is a genius. But the loss of Walter on bass is huge. Everything/Everything has some good songs but I miss the killer basslines.
 
Dimple

Dimple

Member
Jan 10, 2018
8,647
Total Life Forever and Holy Fire are GOAT albums, be sure to check those out OP.

Blue Ninja said:
Ever since Part 2 came out, it's been in my rotation pretty much non-stop. Neptune is my most played song of 2020.

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I've had Neptune on rotation recently and it's definitely one of their top five songs, absolutely amazing song.
 
MisterSnrub

MisterSnrub

Member
Mar 10, 2018
5,951
Someplace Far Away
EOS-HDC said:
Yeah they're great, the first song I heard from them is Inhaler, I then listened to the full album and never looked back.

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This was my entry point too. So good. For months I couldn't remember the band or song name, kept asking people what that one song by Band of Horses was. You know, the one with the skatepark video and the singer wearing the dope persian rug-looking hoodie.
 
Blue Ninja

Blue Ninja

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,805
Belgium
z e r t

z e r t

Member
Oct 27, 2017
994
Great band. Saw them live many years ago at a festival and was one of my favorite acts. Been following them since that day. I had tickets to see them live again last year but then the pandemic happened and the rest is history.
 
Sleuth Semanticist

Sleuth Semanticist

Member
Oct 27, 2017
568
Omaha
Hell yeah. The wait for ENSWBL was long but between the two parts, it's a great album. Love how they can go from hard, to mathy, to upbeat, to chill all in an album. Theirs a FOALS song for every mood.

Mushroomer25 said:
Also, while it obviously won't be possible for awhile - make it a priority to see FOALS live. They have some of the most high energy shows in the rock game right now, along with a beautifully violent pit experience. There's a tour doc/concert film (Rip Up The Road) on Amazon Prime that captures some of that energy, if you want a peek.
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100% this. Their energy is as crazed as metal shows I've been to and I fucking loved it. Been wanting to see them again so badly but alas haven't had the chance due to COVID. Providence was one of the best crowd experiences I've ever had. Crowd surfing, mosh pits, and the entire audience was throbbing back and forth like tides rolling in. I felt like I ran a half marathon after.

Seeing them live took me by total surprise, and they became one of my fav bands during the show. I was a mild fan of them but never explored beyond what played through random streams. I didn't know they went HARD. My best friend coerced me to go with him to a show when What Went Down came out.

They seem like cool dudes, too.
 
Dolomite Shadow

Dolomite Shadow

Member
Oct 28, 2017
423
FOALS is a p cool band. If you're looking for some more indie rock recs along that line, might I suggest early Tame Impala (the first two albums are gonna have the sound your looking for, the latter two are still good, just more pop/disco inspirations) The War on Drugs, I'd start with 'A Deeper Understanding' but all their albums are top notch. King Ghizzard and the Lizard Wizard, and the band Pond are both great if you want to get more into physcadelic stuff, and Royal Blood, for more of that driving bass
 
teruterubozu

teruterubozu

Member
Oct 28, 2017
8,020
I would also check out Nothing Like Thieves and Inhaler (Bono's son's band) if you like that Foals sound.
 
astro

astro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
57,211
Honestly, I think they only have one really great album... but it is a REALLY great album.

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I loved their vibe on their debut, but they didn't have the songwriting chops. They really too ka leap with Total Life Forever and wrote some of the best indie rock of the era.

Every album since then, imo, has had some strong moments but lacked to confession and effortless feel of TLF.

teruterubozu said:
I would also check out Nothing Like Thieves.
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Seconded.
 

Star Wild eo

Member
Jul 22, 2020
125
Foals are my jam. Saw them live in 2019 and it was an amazing show.

Spanish Sahara got me into them but words can't express how much In Degrees hypes me up. Looking forward to whatever they do next.
 
EOS-HDC

EOS-HDC

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
769
Tijuana, B.C, Mexico
MrBoourns said:
This was my entry point too. So good. For months I couldn't remember the band or song name, kept asking people what that one song by Band of Horses was. You know, the one with the skatepark video and the singer wearing the dope persian rug-looking hoodie.
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lmao I found them on a radio station I used to listen while in the office, I remember opening shazam and pressing one earbud to the speaker of the phone so the app could recognize the song.
 
Moz La Punk

Moz La Punk

Journalist at Gamer.nl & Power Unlimited
Verified
May 15, 2018
1,359
The Netherlands
I got into them in the 'early' days with Cassius, I def. like the way they progressed. Saw them and Deftones and NiN live on a festival in 2013 on the same day, that was a good day.
 
loneliestwizard

loneliestwizard

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,273
Total Life Forever may be one of the greatest rock records produced since the turn of the millennium.

I still come back to "Black Gold" every once in a while. It's one of my favorite all-time tracks. The switch-up a little bit more than halfway through the track is so damn satisfying.

 
Bonefish

Bonefish

Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,717
Antidotes is my favorite album of theirs, miss their old sound, but the last two felt like a return to form after What Went Down which was a total disappointment.

 
saturnineCarrier

saturnineCarrier

Member
Oct 26, 2017
573
Discovered them with total life forever, but they kinda lost me after that. sounded over produced in a way I don't really like.

I really love Antidotes though. Red socks pugie never fails to hype me up.
 
Perzeval

Perzeval

Prophet of Truth
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,616
Sweden
Hmm. OP, just judging by the one song you posted gives me this, you like; etheral, sweeping lyrics, acoustic/minimal, electronic, kinda downtempo with hope and despair colliding within the same song. Is that correct or not at all what you're looking for?
 
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abellwillring

abellwillring

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,962
Austin, TX
They're a great band. Might I recommend Gang of Youths? They have a similar vibe and I bet you'd dig them too.



I've been a fan for awhile and seen them a number of times but I got to see them for their Austin City Limits taping which was a delight.

 
Blue Ninja

Blue Ninja

Prophet of Truth
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,805
Belgium
OP, you might also want to give Alt-J a try, if you haven't already. They're not entirely comparable, but they scratch a similar itch for me.

abellwillring said:
They're a great band. Might I recommend Gang of Youths? They have a similar vibe and I bet you'd dig them too.
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Gang of Youths is good. I saw them in '18 when they did a preshow for Mumford and Sons, and they've found their way into my regular Spotify rotation.
 
Perzeval

Perzeval

Prophet of Truth
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,616
Sweden
Whatevs. OP, based solely on the single song with foals you posted I will recommend this:

 
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Jarlaxle

Member
Oct 30, 2017
219
I liked Total Life Forever but didn't love it when it came out. I didn't listen to Holy Fire when it came out and got back into them with What Went Down which really grabbed me for some reason. ENSWBL 1 and 2 are both phenomenal. Syrups, On the Luna, The Runner, Neptune. Great tracks and I really enjoy this band.
 
OP
OP
Orayn

Orayn

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,055
Perzeval said:
Hmm. OP, just judging by the one song you posted gives me this, you like; etheral, sweeping lyrics, acoustic/minimal, electronic, kinda downtempo with hope and despair colliding within the same song. Is that correct or not at all what you're looking for?
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100% exactly this, you put it into words better than I could.
 
sabertoothzombie

sabertoothzombie

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,713
I've been listening to them since Antidotes. They have always been my top listened artist every year, I just can't find anything that can top TLF or any of the other albums
 
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