So they say math rock is techno for people who hate techno but who like guitars. While die-hard math rock-aficionados could argue that Foals aren’t technically a math rock band because their time signatures aren’t completely scattered, they do meet the other essential criteria rather well. Inconsistent rhythmic structure? Check. Instruments and vocals sharing equal prominence? Check. The techno/guitar thing I mentioned before? Check. Bizzare, over-long track names? Well, ok, no. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter which genre you trust Foals into, (including NME’s contrived “techno-futurist” one, for example) they still produce exceptionally clean, slick and super-tight tracks, for a bunch of unwashed lads from Oxford.

Two Steps Twice, a track that will appear on their upcoming debut LP, which is about one of the things that binds the Foals boys together - a love of swimming and dancing - is full of unpredictable tempo changes, multilayered chanting vocals, crisp blips and bleeps, and catchy-as-christ hooks. If I can come back to the math-rock reference, it’s kind of what mathematical sequences would sound like if they were converted into music, which is rather fitting, seeing as frontman, Yannis Philippakis, cites mathematics as one of the band’s main influences. It’s no wonder then, that Foals have such a fascinating sound, when their other major influences include tennis, drugs, and man walking on the moon… And did I mention their accents are appealing as hell?

Foals - Two Steps Twice

-bec