Foals

Through brassy spikes of a horn section and the detailed twists of pseudo Afro-pop guitar, it's almost easy to forget that Britain's Foals are, at heart, a dance-rock band. Guitarist Yannis Philippakis and drummer Jack Bevan were childhood pals in Oxford who played together in a math rock outfit called the Edmund Fitzgerald. They evolved into Foals in 2006 when they were joined by guitarist Jimmy Smith, bassist Walter Gervers and, briefly, vocalist Andrew Mears. When Mears left the group to concentrate on his own project, Youthmovies, Philippakis grabbed the mic, and the band developed the sharp-edged, broad-minded dance rock that dominates their 2008 long-playing debut, Antidotes.