What Went Down

Editors’ Notes The Brit rockers attack right outta the gate, the title track building along a menacing bass line into high-octane stadium rock—this is Foals at their heaviest. But the band's dance rock roots sashay back in on "Birch Tree," which jumps from hand-clapper to dissonant howler before "Snake Oil" tries on Jane's Addiction's sludgier sound. Electronic-lush ballads "Give It All" and "London Thunder" supply calm amid the storm, while nature at its most intimidating—oceans, mountains, snakes—becomes a running metaphor through which Yannis Philippakis explores humanity’s darker tendencies and animalistic core.