Week of Foals and Puscifer

     This week I am going to review one album and one ep. As odd as it is for me to say this both are indie rock. Weird because I'm still not used to Maynard Keenan of Tool and A Perfect Circle having an indie band. Anyways lets start off with Foals.

   Foals are an English rock band from Oxford, England. All of the members tired their luck in previous bands before Foals but didn't make it for one reason or another. Guitarist Jimmy Smith is the only one to finish his degree, at Hull University: each of the band members quit their Universities after being signed to Transgressive Records. They are very self contained and don't like to branch out much. They mostly use their friends for their band the music videos are created by their friend Dave Ma and all of the artwork is also done by their friend Tinhead. 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 not to use the master copy mixed by Dave and mixed the album themselves. they said it sounded to vast and expanding like it was mixed in the Grand Canyon, they went for a smaller more intimate feel. They band started to record their second album in 2009 while in Gothenburg, Sweden. It has been described by the band as "tropical prog" , or "the dream of an eagle dying." The album's title is named after an element of Ray Kurzweil's theory of singularity. The band's front man Yannis Philippakis has professed a longtime interest in futurology, with it informing numerous songs on Total Life Forever. Total Life Forever was going to be a hard album to top and they knew it. I was nominated for a mercury prize for Christ's sake. If you don't know a Mercury prize is like the Grammy of England, accept there is only one award to win. In 2012 they announced on their Facebook page the third album's name would be Holy Fire. 

                                          Here is an example, Foals- Antidotes. The whole album.

     One of the things that makes foals stand out is their utter defiance in trend following. Back when they were writing Antidotes they hired Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio as the producer. A dream grab for a starting indie rock band, he was the go to guy at this point. People would kill to get him on as producer, but they turned his final product down and fired him. They mixed the album themselves instead. Talk about guts, you have just started no debut album yet just a contract. You line up a killer producer who had worked with everyone and then fire him. Not only that but on Antidotes they didn't even include Hummer their lead single on the CD  Think about that you make a huge hit that people respond to and love and then don't put it on your album. They are simply unpredictable. Right about the time when math rock was at is least popular in the indie rock community they picked it up and ran with it. Combining math rock with afro pop and dance rock to make an entirely new genre for indie rock. Changing it and reinventing it, and not just that once they have done it on every album so far. They also have a tendency to add in some out of nowhere, funk rhythmic craziness. Then alone came Total Life Forever, this album can be best described as the cool down after a party. The party being Antidotes. They album isn't as in your face as Antidotes or "the party", but it leaves to think back on the good time with a strong joy nostalgia. It combines all of what made Antidotes amazing with more thought out layers, emotion, and amazingly in depth lyrics. Its the changes that come with maturity and experience.Then we get to Holy Fire.

     Here is an example, Foals- Antidotes, The whole album. Holy has been described by the band as schizophrenic, because none of the songs sound anything alike. They also said that each song could be described as a different color, an entity all to them. This is seriously true, the album has something for everyone it rocks, remains indie, keeps its layers, slows down for ballads, fires out funky baselines, crazy math rock percussion lines, dance rock groves, and radio friendliness. That right the band that once cut their lead single off a record has become more straight forward on this record, but it's not a bad thing. It's actually kind of a relief in a way. All the weirdness and constant rebellion from them has made them not as easily accessible as they could be, or for lack of a better words just shy of full music chart topping domination. That's not to say they care enough about that to sell out. If face what brought us this more strait forward album is the confidence they got from Total Life Forever’s successes, especially singer Yannis Philippakis. The band admitted to liking pop music and trying to use its charm on the new album without selling out, they were able to use their math rock talent, plus Yannis powerful voice to emulate pop without becoming bland and losing them. This album comes from an artist truly inspired and at the top of their game. Holy Fire combines the best things you used to love about Foals with so many more new awesome things.
                                                           Here is Foal's new single Inhale

     While doing my research on Foals for this album review I fell in love with this band, and more specifically Holy Fire. I think this is my favorite album of the year so far. Every track has it purpose on this album and drives a very different felling home with each song. The album opens up with "Prelude", which is an actual prelude to the album, and a great song that builds from a slow beginning to an explosive ending. Following this is the one-two punch of "Inhaler", and "My Number". "Inhaler", Pushes the band into a heavier direction than ever before accompanied with crazy funky bass lines. Yannis sings over it and at moments even screams in a deafening roar close to what might be considered nu-metal. Then all of the bands dance rock elements come rushing back with "My Number", a simple but insanely catchy song about an ex who can't text him because he changed his number. "Bad Habit", slows down and pulls things way back in for an emotional ballad about his past sins. "Every time" has sort of a surf rock feel to with crazy percussion on top to make it really catchy song. "Last Night" is a slower but building indie rock song that blasts out the fund toward the end. "Out of the Woods" is a more old school song from Foals a look back to Antidotes era, but it adds to the album as a whole. "Milk and Black Spiders" is my favorite song on the album. It’s simple with lots of layers and it builds beautifully to an amazing finish. "Providence" is a crazed heavy, funky, math rock that explodes to the heaviest music they have ever made. The final two songs "Stepson", and "Moon" are a prefect slower close, ending with more of a Total Life Forever feel bringing the album and the band full circle through all three albums in one.
                                          Here is a song off Total Life Forever, Spanish Sahara.

   

     Foals have delivered in a big way on every album, but this album feels different because of the sheer confidence coming from the band and Yannis's vocals. They took success and new they had to step up and inspired themselves for greatness. This album is a weird quirky band trying to shed some of its unacceptability and reach to play arena crowds. They do this without losing themselves and create new ground for themselves at the same time.
 Recommended Sons: THE WHOLE FREAKING ALBUM!

5/5 Stars

      Now we are moving on Maynard Keenan's indie rock band Puscifer and their new ep, Donkey Punch the Night. Puscifer's original name was Umlaut, "a premiere improvisational hardcore band". Keenan describes Puscifer as "simply a playground for the various voices in my head, a space with no clear or discernible goals, where my Id, Ego, and Anima all come together to exchange cookie recipes." How weird can you get Maynard, very apparently? Puscifer is apparently as much a clothing line as it is a band, designed from Adam Jones of Mr. Show, that where the band appeared, as a fictional band for the first episode, sort of like Spinal Tap. Their first ep Don't Shoot the Messenger was released in 2007, followed later that year by their first full length V is for Vagina. In 2009 they released" C is for (Please Insert Sophomoric Genitalia Reference Here) their second ep. Puscifer's second full length Conditions of my Parole came out in 2011. That brings us to 2013 and Donkey Punch the night. Maynard has said that Puscifer is the moniker he uses when he releases solo material.

  I couldn't do a review of Puscifer without giving a little history lesson on Maynard Keenan. Maynard Keenan is the front man for Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer. He is one of the most prolific people in the music business but he is also so many other things. He is recluse, winemaker, actor, producer, husband, father, and self-proclaimed mad man. James Keenan was born in Ravenna, Ohio, on April 17, 1964. He is an only child. Inspired by Bill Murray's performance in the 1981 comedy film Stripes, Keenan joined the United States Army, with the intention of having the G.I. Bill fund his dream of attending art school. He initially served in the Army as a forward observer before studying at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School (West Point Prep School) from 1983 to 1984. In school re ran cross country, wrestled, and sang in the glee club. It was while in the military that he was given the name Maynard and kept it. During the 1980's, Keenan played bass guitar for TexA.N.S. and sang for Children of the Anachronistic Dynasty, both independent bands. After moving to Los Angeles, Keenan met Adam Jones who had heard him singing on a demo in college. Impressed with Keenan's vocals, Jones suggested that they form a band. This is where Tool is formed. This is where the weirdness sets in.
                                                      Here is Tool's crazy Schism video.

 You know the musician side, but I’m sure there is plenty you don't know he says out of the limelight as much as he can. He has a son named Devo H Keenan (born 1995) who sang backing vocals on A Perfect Circle's Thirteenth Step, fun fact of the day. It was after the birth of his son that it occurred to Keenan to obscure his own identity in order to prevent his son from being hurt by his popularity. He hates the way that rock stars are worshiped and has been known to walk around with business cards that say Jesus Christ on them. He also has a stalker problem; he used a paintball marker to run people off his property. He is also trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He has been an actor on a few occasions starting off for Mr. Show, ironically where Pusifer was born. He has also acted as Charles Manson, and Satan in Bikini Bandits and Bikini Bandits 2: Golden Rod. On April 1, 2005, the official Tool website announced, as an April Fools' Day prank, that "Maynard has found Jesus" and would be abandoning the recording of the new album temporarily and possibly permanently. Keenan, whose grandparents and great-uncle made wine in Northern Italy, owns Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars, based in the unincorporated area of Page Springs/Cornville, Arizona, southwest of Sedona, where he resides.

     Another thing worth mentioning is Maynard Keenan's live performances; he is strange to say the least. I have personally witnessed Tool, and A Perfect Circle live, but not Puscifer. In live performances with Tool, Keenan has often been known to be situated on a platform towards the rear of the stage, without a spotlight, facing the backdrop rather than the audience. For live show with A Perfect Circle, Maynard is known to stay towards the back of the stage, this time facing the audience stomping in place throughout the whole show. I have never seen Puscifer's live show, but I have heard crazy things about it. Apparently it is one of the weirdest shows you will ever see. The whole band come out and sets up and entire campsite including a campfire, before playing the show the band will take their seats around the campfire before starting the show. After hearing this I really want to see Puscifer live. Now we shall move on to the ep itself.

     The album opens with a cover of Queens, "Bohemian Rhapsody". To be honest after hearing A Perfect Circle's Emotive, it wasn't what I expected. He usually takes a ton of liberties when doing covers, but this one stays pretty close to the original. It is well done, but it just feels so out of place with the rest of the ep. The next song is "Breath" and this one is more what I expected from Puscifer. It’s very adventurous in terms of the sonic textures and tones it uses, ranging from haunting guitars to sci-fi synth patches. The two singers Maynard and Carina Round trade vocally seductively trough the track. The next song "Dear Brother", follows wonderfully in the footsteps of Conditions of my parole. It’s a synth heavy indie song, it's weird and cool. Then we are treated to a cover that is more like what I was expecting. This time it's the classic ‘80’s heavy metal anthem, Accept’s “Balls to the Wall”. The cover even feels like it could have been on Emotive, and that's not a bad thing, from a metal anthem to a dark emotional ballad. It builds to a close with a huge chorus. The last three are three mixes of "Breath", "Dear Brother", and "Balls to the Wall". The first one is "Breath" is a ghostly haunting cover mixed with some industrial Nine Inch Nails sounds. "Dear Brother" is a more 80's sounding mix, full of synthesizers and robot voice singing, all popular in the 80's. The last one "Balls to the Wall" is an instrumental track; it’s very hypnotic and very monotonous. Overall the mixes are cool, but not important. What really important here is the new music and the two covers, that is the purpose of the ep after all. Of the four songs three of them add great music to Puscifer's discography; the Queen cover is good but feels out of place.
 Recommended Songs: Breath, Dear Brother, Balls to the Wall. 

4/5 Stars