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Critic Reviews
90
Promise delivered, divided by expectations frenzied, multiplied by still-evident potential for future releases… equals a Pitchfork-style 8.6.
15y
90
'Antidotes' is not a flavour of the week album, it’s the opening opus of a band who are here to stay. Ambitious, exciting and utterly divine, they have shown that at the end of the day brilliant music will out.
2y
90
Few albums this year will start with such a strong opening and for people that like to jump around or don’t listen to a whole album, this is a great way to get a flavor for the band.
11y
83
Thanks in part to indie super-producer David Andrew Sitek, they've got a vibrant sonic presence, and they write excellent songs.
11y
80
It's often prudent to dismiss the hype but, with Antidotes, Foals prove there's always an exception to the rule.
12y
80
A perfectly executed debut as might be expected from a band championed in OMM53 for their mathematical precision.
8y
80
The only qualification is that sometimes the vocals offer very similar fayre, and sometimes Foals myopic insistence on being intellectual squeezes any human touch from certain tracks. I haven't heard a better debut for a long time, this album will appeal to those too cool to read NME and those stupid enough to only read NME.
5y
80
Antidotes feels like riding a tea-tray down an icy mountainside.
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2y
80
They’re an ambitious young band. This is an exciting debut.
10y
80
Fantastic. This is the best new band Sub Pop has worked with in years.
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2y
80
It's these occasional horn bursts, the electronic chops and blips, that truly complete the songs, making Antidotes not merely a lesson in post-new wave noodling, but evidence of the power and excitement of the genre and music itself.
15y
80
They do make thoroughly exciting music that becomes quickly airborne, able to move the listener to a different plane with disarming ease.
15y
70
Foals are a tight band with hook-laden grooves. Not worth the hype, but definitely worth keeping an eye on.
11y
70
Philippakis loves further obscuring cryptic lyrics with his delirious yawps. Mostly that's fine, since sublimely hypnotic arrangements of horn bursts and techno glitch beats generally render meaning unnecessary. But all that yelping about "electric shocks" ("Big Big Love [Fig. 2]") might be better buried in a dub mix.
10y
70
They never let math get in the way of a good time.
10y
70
Their debut sounds sleek and exhilarating, although Foals seem cautious about completely breaking out of the punk-funk strictures that have confined them so far.
12y
70
In these days of Pro Tools and MySpace slack jobs, it’s a beautiful thing to watch such rich riffage go for broke.
10y
70
Antidotes might be a touch weird, enough to earn the badge of “musician’s music”, and its cryptic lyricism isn’t typical of a romp. But when Foals’ rhythms bristle and their guitars go colorfully spastic, the art house and dance house become one and the same.
15y
60
Antidotes is a great dance-rock record, but Foals still have a few lessons to learn before they reinvent the genre.
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2y
60
Balloons and Cassius will prompt widespread jerking movements on indie dancefloors, but it would be nice to hear them let their hearts rule their heads for a change.
11y
60
What we need is for Foals to grow into a band that does more than reference its influences and recall its collaborators.
7y
60
Antidotes is really a pleasurable record that found itself displaced by its worn-out, second-hand clothing.
15y
60
While there is no denying the heady rush of the band in full flow, predictability creeps in over 45 minutes.
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2y
59
Foals' debut, like many British records, trails clouds of homeland hyperbole, but it's harder than usual to cut through and get a fix on what exactly they do. Reviews have offered afropop, math rock, and techno as reference; the band members themselves cite Gwen Stefani and Steve Reich. Antidotes suggests these are mostly red herrings. Foals are squarely in a more recent and less exotic tradition-- the hi-gloss end of the post-punk revival: Think a more playful Bloc Party, a more measured Futureheads, a less heartfelt Maxïmo Park.
15y
40
Rather than the soaring freedom of a Coltrane, Parker or Gilmore, this is an intensely claustrophobic experience, like listening to men busily nailing themselves inside a box.
6y
I didn’t know math rock could be so danceable
Wowwwww I love the vibe of this. This is so much fun. Foals present on their debut album a bit of an unexpected twist for me personally. I started with the album after this one (Total Life Forever), and they changed up their sound a lot between the two. This one is wayyyyyyyyy more dancy and math rock inspired, which was a really nice surprise and a very welcome one. It makes for these songs to sound full of life, with absolutely incredible ... read more
So these are the same guys that made My Number?
I mean wow, this album has so much energy New York City could run their whole electrical system solely on this album!!!!
Wow, holy shit this is a fantastic debut album, this is a near seamless blend of Math Rock with Dance-Punk and Indie Rock production. This album is so fucking groovy and full of life, and almost never lets up, even if the songs get "slower" in the second half.
I loved this album and am very inclined now to check ... read more
Holy shit this is a BANGER. For me this was Foals greatest album. “Two Steps” is one my favorite Foals song but “Olympic Airways” and “Electric Bloom” are awesome. These songs are also standouts at any Foals show when played.
Guitar rock but, like, bespoke? It's not exactly pompous, much less pretentious, but Antidotes carries with it a really sophisticated air that just oozes incredible amounts of personality with each little meter change and sparkly guitar riff.
I can hear the birth of many an indie rock trope here and yet it ebbs and flows just far enough away from that mainstream that it really separate itself in the little scene it builds for itself. It carries many strongly connotated genres with it but ... read more
It's not often I find indie rock that's really good, at least according to my personal tastes (which I'll summarise in a min), less so indie rock that both has me enthralled in how groovy it is and impressed by how distinct it makes itself from the other bands in its genre. Is this it? (see what I did there hahahahahsakjhfdheajwhsahdhfjhahdkshwbjsz)
Indie rock, for me, is a largely boring and uninteresting genre, where the majority of the artists all blend into this disgusting, ... read more
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Track List
| 1 | The French Open 3:45 | 85 |
| 2 | Cassius 3:49 | 89 |
| 3 | Red Socks Pugie 5:15 | 88 |
| 4 | Olympic Airways 4:12 | 89 |
| 5 | Electric Bloom 4:55 | 85 |
| 6 | Balloons 2:59 | 85 |
| 7 | Heavy Water 4:32 | 82 |
| 8 | Two Steps, Twice 4:39 | 87 |
| 9 | Big Big Love (Fig. 2) 5:47 | 83 |
| 10 | Like Swimming 1:57 | 75 |
| 11 | Tron 4:50 | 80 |
Total Length: 46 minutes
Year End Lists
| #5 | / | NME |
| #12 | / | Drowned in Sound |
| #14 | / | musicOMH |
| #20 | / | The Guardian |
| #44 | / | Consequence of Sound |
More Lists
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11mo
This is one of the catchiest rock records out there, it deserves so much more love