Foals乐队

Foals are a British rock band formed in Oxford in 2005. The band's current line-up consists of Greek-born lead vocalist and guitarist Yannis Philippakis, drummer and percussionist Jack Bevan, guitarist and keyboardist Jimmy Smith, and bassist Walter Gervers.

Foals are currently signed to Warner Records, and have released seven studio albums to date: Antidotes (2008), Total Life Forever (2010), Holy Fire (2013), What Went Down (2015), Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1 and Part 2 (2019), with the latter becoming the group's first album to top the UK Albums Chart, and their most recent, Life Is Yours (2022). They have also released one video album, six extended plays and 35 singles.

Foals have toured internationally for over a decade and have featured at many festivals including Glastonbury, Coachella, and Roskilde. They have won a number of awards, including best live act at the 2013 Q Awards, while producers Alan Moulder and Flood were awarded 'UK Producer of the Year' for their work on the album Holy Fire.

History

2005–2006: Formation

The lead singer of the band Youthmovies, Andrew Mears, originally formed the band Foals. He was present on the band's debut 7" single, "Try This on Your Piano/Look at My Furrows of Worry", but left shortly afterwards to concentrate on Youthmovies's debut album, Good Nature.

Jack Bevan, Lina Simon and Yannis Philippakis were originally in cult math rock band the Edmund Fitzgerald. The group disbanded, claiming that things had become "too serious" and that they wanted to have more "fun making their music".

Walter Gervers and Jimmy Smith were part of a small Oxford band called Face Meets Grill. They met at and formed the band from members of Abingdon School, the same school that Radiohead attended. They played gigs in and around Oxford, and recorded an EP in Hull. After playing Truck Festival in 2004 they separated to follow different paths and careers.

Smith is the only band member to have completed his degree, which he took at Hull University. Each of the other band members quit their respective universities when the band signed to Transgressive Records.

2007–2008: Antidotes

In early 2007, the band released the limited edition 7" singles "Hummer" and "Mathletics", both produced by Gareth Parton. "Hummer" later featured on the Channel Four teen drama Skins. Philippakis described this period as 'the music was almost a premeditated mix of blending techno and minimalism [and] we'd set ourselves these rules, like 'only staccato rhythms', and 'guitars must be played really high'.

In the summer of 2007, Foals began working on their debut album in New York. It was produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio. The band decided to mix the album themselves, stating that Sitek made the first master copy of the album sound like "it was recorded in the Grand Canyon". Philippakis has stated a number of times that Foals and Sitek are on good terms, even though the mix by Sitek was rejected by the band. Foals released their debut album, titled Antidotes, on 24 March 2008 in the UK and on 8 April 2008 in the US. The album was a commercial success in the UK, debuting at number three on the UK Albums Chart. The album was a minor success in other countries, charting in Japan, France and the Netherlands. Non-UK versions of the album include the early Parton-produced singles.