What more did you expect from Foo Fighters. Honestly.
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Foo Fighters have outdone themselves again, this time not even with a full album. The surprise release of their five-track EP this morning (23 November) has taken the world by storm, and we’re here to give you a track by track review of the Foo’s latest venture.
The aptly named ‘Saint Cecilia’ kicks off the EP with Foo Fighters trademark; the anthem. This is a song that I can already picture myself and thousands of other Foo fans belting out at one of their gigs, and fits perfectly into their already mass discography of signature hits. The title takes it’s name from the hotel in which the band recorded the EP in, the Hotel Saint Cecilia in Austin, Texas. Saint Cecilia is also the patron saint of musicians, which aptly fits Grohl’s message of celebrating life and music as he dedicated in his letter to the fans’ gratitude, and for those involved in the Paris terror attacks.
The shortest track on the EP is entitled ‘Sean’. Who is Sean? Some say he’s the bands guitar tech, others – including myself – say that it’s a hearkening back to the band’s music video for ‘The One’, in which Grohl reenacts scenes from the film Orange County where he shouts ‘SHAUN!’ over and over. We’ll never know. This song definitely has remnants of Sonic Highways attached to it, with a distinct similarity to that of ‘Something From Nothing’ in places.
If you’ve ever wondered what Motorhead crossed with Husker Du would sound like, ‘Saviour Breath’ satisfies that curiosity. The Foos have managed to fuse Grohl’s DC hardcore punk roots with the heavy, in-your-face guitar styling that you’d find on any Motorhead record. It’s definitely the heaviest track that the Foos have put out to date. ‘White Limo’ has some stiff competition.
We then turn to a slow ballad through ‘Iron Rooster’. This is one of the tracks where we get to see the band’s influences really shine through, with a combination of Neil Young’s ‘Old Man’ through the folk guitar rhythm and a Pink Floyd vibe through Grohl’s vocals.
The EP ends with a monstrous feat with ‘The Neverending Sigh’, a song that originally started out as ‘7 Corners’, and has been in the making for 16 years. It was originally planned to be released on the Foos’ third album, There is Nothing Left To Lose. You can hear the underlying vibe of that album throughout the song, but it’s definitely matured with the band.
You honestly couldn’t expect less from Foo Fighters. You can feel the love of music and life pouring out of these five tracks, and the inspiration of the environment that they found themselves whilst recording this EP. It’s a testament to Sonic Highways that they’ve been able to use the spirit of that venture in their preceding work.
This EP being a special thank you to the gratuitous fans – for free no less – is welcomed with ecstatic, open arms. The band have accomplished what Grohl set out do achieve in his message in regards to the Paris attacks, this is the first time I’ve felt some kind of happiness since the events unfolded.
Saint Cecilia is out now via Roswell Records.
