My first time listening to Holy Fire was also my first time listening to Foals. I put the album on, but didn’t have time to hear it all the way through. I had to pause it about halfway through somewhere around the fifth song “Everytime.” At that point, I was really quite interested in what I was hearing and couldn’t wait to finish it. Unfortunately, after a great first half the band disrupts the atmosphere and ends up disappointing in the end.
Foals’ third album, Holy Fire, start with a “Prelude” that builds and intrigues and eventually leads into one of the better songs on the album, “Inhaler.” The lyrics are nothing special—much like the entire album—but something about the grunginess in the guitar hook makes it memorable. The next song, “My Number,” is my favorite and keeps the streak strong. The sound remains similar but the melody and lyrics hark back to early 80’s pop/rock and its pretty great. The next two songs are decent but don’t have the same luster as the second or third track. The sixth track, “Late Night,” is where the album shifts from fun experimental rock to moody, downer music that is too airy and doesn’t contain the lyrics to justify the change. “Milk and Black Spiders” is the only song on the second half worth a listen due to a catchy chorus, but it’s nothing too special.
It’s too bad that Foals wasn’t more consistent with the concept of this album, or with the quality of the music in Holy Fire. But we can all thank them that they packed the front end of the album with the good stuff so we don’t have to constantly skip songs to hear what we want to hear.
Rating: W-P
RIYL: Arctic Monkeys, The Raconteurs
Key Tracks: “My Number,” “Inhaler,” “Everytime”
Check out “Inhaler” below:
