Review Summary: Meet the new boss; same as the old boss.
Foster the People almost made me want to hate them from the beginning. Don’t get me wrong – “Pumped Up Kicks,” the band’s first single, is easy to love, a MGMT rehash filtered through the surly Strokes-ish vocals of leader Mark Foster, propelled by the kind of hook Apple marketing execs’ wet dreams are made of. No, it was more how I found the band playing a evening set at Coachella off the basis of a three-song EP; how, after enjoying said set, I browsed through summer concerts to see the synthpop group playing a two night set in L.A. that had already promptly sold out months in advance; how KROQ has already murdered said great single by relentless replay, turning a song I loved into one I was already sick of after a couple months, * la MGMT’s “Time To Pretend;” See a trend here?
But I realized I was being selfish, and a bit jealous – this isn’t the first time a band has ridden the coattails of a great couple songs to a major label and national airplay, and far be it from me to hate a band that was merely guilty of knocking every pitch out of the park that came their way. As far as Foster the People go, it’s hard to blame them. Their self-titled EP was a fantastic three-song slice of electro-pop, the kind that MGMT and Passion Pit had already ridden in successive years to headlining festival slots. It’s the “in” sound right now, particularly in that glorified 18-24 demographic, and with “Pumped Up Kicks,” “Helena Beats” and “Houdini,” Foster the People could have done a lot worse than gifting the world with a remodeled MGMT devoid of any high art aspirations. These are powerfully neon-lit songs, summer anthems in the making that revel in surging synths and SoCal harmonies and hooks that sink deep. “Houdini,” in particular, is the kind of well produced jam that stands up to the best of their influences, a fist pumping piano part anchoring Foster’s waifish falsetto awash in day-glo electronics. It’s the kind of forward-thinking pop song that many an indie band would die for;
Torches, thankfully, has about four or so more to spare.
The problem with
Torches is the same problem uber-hyped groups like Black Kids have had in the past – we’ve already heard the best the band has had to offer. The three songs on the EP are the three best songs on the album, and it’s not even close. Those that are, most noticeably the Beach Boys ooh-la-las of “I Would Do Anything For You” and the inventive percussive rhythms underlying “Waste,” are unfortunately derailed by saccharine lyrics that call to mind the worst of electro-pop cash-ins. It makes me a little less confident that Foster, who, after all, chose the band name because he liked the “nurturing image it evoked of taking care of the people,” will be able to pair his considerable songwriting skill with lyrics that aren’t quite so stale.
Luckily for Foster, the hooks are still there, and for coeds looking for that perfect album to blast down the beach roads this summer, there are few albums better suited than
Torches. Aside from the trying-too-hard-to-be-a-rock-band in closer “Warrant,” Foster the People show a remarkable skill in sticking to what they know, be it typical dance-rock sing-a-longs (preferably with the top down) like “Call It What You Want” or slightly off-kilter but still pleasantly palatable synth-rock numbers like “Hustling (Life on the Nickel),” “Miss You,” et al. But even a flavor of the season can be fleeting – just ask Black Kids’ how their sophomore album is coming along. For all the immediacy inherent in
Torches, it’s hard to imagine listening to this album in a different time and place (say, winter of this year) and still having that instant connection. For better or for worse,
Torches is a product of the here and now, and who can be mad at Foster the People for seizing it for all its worth? Get it while it lasts, boys.
