I missed Foals last jaunt through LA and was pretty bummed about that, so when they were booked to play the El Rey with HEALTH, I was ecstatic to be able to catch them.
First, let me say that I love me some HEALTH. I saw them open for Dan Deacon a few months back and knowing nothing about them, was absolutely floored by their pounding theatrical noise rock. They play intense tracks layered with groaning and haunting vocals that are perfect for freaking the F out to. It looked like the slightly thin El Rey crowd had mixed feelings about HEALTH, glancing around Id see pockets of head banging mixed in with the usual cast of unaffected too-coolers. The energy level rose and fell frenetically throughout their set, but ended mostly high.
The relatively unenthusiastic audience perked up a bit when Foals took the stage. They tore through a lengthy set of upbeat dance-punk, tirelessly working the stage. I have listened to their debut full length, Antidotes, mostly while doing chores around the house (its great to keep up the momentum). My one concern with Foals was that they are a bit of a one trick pony. Every song consists of a frenetic beat, a simple poppy guitar riff and some lyrics obscured through a thick Brit filter, rinse repeat. It didnt bother me too much in their live set, as the one trick they do, they do it really well. It gets tougher when a band can only play sleepy tunes, but if its upbeat, fun and raucous, its easy to get lost in a head bobbing blur (especially when youre a couple beers deep).
If you get a chance, check out HEALTH opening for Of Montreal at the recently remodeled Palladium on November 22.
