Total Life Forever. It's a title that somewhat epitomises the problem with this second Foals album - It appears weighty and portentous but on closer inspection simply doesn't furnish you with any worthwhile meaning at all.
Having embroidered their own unique style of 'math rock' on debut Antidotes, the Oxford quintet merely appear to have stripped away most of the delightfully playful yet urgent guitar mechanics that raised them above the parapet of obscurity, leaving nothing but a sonic waste ground of pretentious etherea.
It's hard not to compare Foals unfavourably with The Horrors, who although also expanding their musical palette on last year's Primary Colours, managed to do so whilst finding their own distinctive voice.
Alas, too much of Total Life Forever feels bereft of any discernible intent. Lead track 'Spanish Sahara' is a good case in point. Over 6 minutes in length and sporting the teeth grinding imagery of lyric, "Now I see you lying there/Like a lilo losing air", you can't escape the feeling that, when push comes to shove, Foals simply don't have the substance to fulfil their musical ambition.
There are moments when their potential exposes itself fleetingly such as on 'Miami' and 'This Orient' but ultimately it feels like Foals have deliberately lent towards the more MOR music listener, a move which their Mercury Prize nomination will no doubt only serve to justify.
Unfortunately for me, it feels like a band with considerable potential are rapidly losing their impetuous.
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