Look past the unrelenting hype and pull Foals's music into focus and the Oxford rockers are still difficult to pin down. Sonically they have no glaringly obvious indie/dance genre predecessors and their contemporaries (Bloc Party, Klaxons) don't quite cross over into their musical space. Foals almost sound like they don't belong in the present - they're a group 15 minutes from the future, at home on the next generation of iPod. New single 'Red Socks Pugie' has pulsing electronic note sequences, clanking kettledrums and - something they've picked up from listening to minimalist composer Steve Reich - an appreciation of timing and space between different sounds.

This track is less frenzied, more laid back than catchy last single 'Cassius', with a mellow verse holding things back before they take off on the chorus. 'Red Socks Pugie' is further indication that Foals are incredibly talented musicians in need of a producer to marshal their intricate and unique sound (the five-minute album version had to be chopped for the single release). As with their previous releases don't expect any degree of lyrical comprehension. Wasps' nests, vessels, terminals and swelling hearts - what's it all about lads?


> Click here for our review of Foals' album