Jonquil
Point of Go
(Dovecote Records)

If Jonquil reminds you of Foals, it’s no coincidence: the English rockers have befriended one another, toured together, and even lived together at one point. The Oxford band’s latest LP, Point of Go, has shades of Foals’ Total Life Forever, but Jonquil manages to be brighter and more immediate.

Since slimming down to four members, Jonquil have shed some of the chaotic noise that surfaced in their early work. It’s guitar rock with melody, keys and horns embellishing in a manner that would make Vampire Weekend, Everything Everything, and Wild Beasts proud.

“It’s My Part,” one of the album’s first singles, stands out as being deliciously and unironically cowbell-oriented. “Real Cold,” by contrast, is a genius pop song that applies brass to only be catchier.

The real highlight though, however intentional, is the flow between “Point of Go (Part 1)” and “Point of Go (Part 2).” This is where the band shows the most growth, building from beautiful vocals to the clatter of synths and repeated words. This mini-movement could feel self-indulgent in lesser hands, but Jonquil have honed their sound to keep one foot in pop with the other in the bizarre, with a bit of shoegazing all the while.