In his previous life before Foster The People, frontman Mark Foster was once an advertising ‘jingle’ writer.
Although he’s surely left that life behind and likely sick of it with his leap into the real music world, you can’t help but hear influence from his former work when armed with this knowledge, just listen to Static Space Lover on this album. I digress however, the band are following on from wild success with their first album Torches (2011) and their more mixed release, Supermodel (2014).
Even if Foster The People weren’t actively on your radar, you’ll know them. Just have a quick Google for Pumped Up Kicks, and it’ll evoke some memory of the track, be it a fond, easy listening memory from an undeniably chilled indie-rock track or being a little unsettled about the subject matter, effectively a teenager shooting other teenagers, a bit of a hot-button this year to say the least. With less controversial content, Sacred Hearts Club, has arrived with us this July.
If you were to start listening on Doing It For The Money however, you’d be forgiven for not even recognising this incarnation of Foster The People. The song is plagiarised (albeit very well) from the true juggernauts of the 90s…the boybands. Think 5ive or N*Sync when listening to this song and you’ll catch the drift. It’s a computerised beat with pitch shifts galore that even Justin Timberlake would be proud of. If anything is sure to feature at club nights from school discos to closing tunes in central London, it’ll be this one.
Sacred Hearts Club is the third studio album by American indie pop band Foster the People
Although the opening track, Pay The Man‘s actual meaning may be hard to trace as the song progresses, that’s not too much of a sticking point. The bassline pumps throughout the song like a heartbeat making the rhythm throughout feel very natural and oh so easy to move to and show the band’s transition in musical style.
In Sit Next To Me and SHC, we can see the band’s move towards RnB away from their indie roots even if the high pitches and rapid strums of indie’s ghost remains to haunt the tracks. The basslines go progressively deeper and set a contrast to the aforementioned guitar strums whilst Foster’s vocals are pushed to levels not heard on previous works (still nothing to scream about, but he’s working harder).
For all the differences however, the band still seems keen to try and reclaim the former glory of Pumped Up Kicks, although it never quite hits the same lofty heights. I Love My Friends feels retrospective, like so much of indie, always looking backwards. The song is livelier and more poppy than Pumped Up Kicks, but lacks the same earworm characteristics, it’s probably because the song is more complex, extra synths thrown in to patch problems and more FX-laden vocals detract from the song being a simple success.
Lotus Eater and Loyal Like Sid And Nancy both seem take stabs at creating another runaway success as well. With the songs feeling punky and EDM-influenced respectively, they are both wild departures from what the band has previously released on any album.
Whilst both are excellent songs amidst an overall very good album, they are like viewing Pumped Up Kicks through water on glass. A distorted view of their massively successful single. Was it the simplicity of the track they’re trying to reclaim with Lotus Eater‘s more raw production and simple structure? Or was it the slightly more rhythmic side of the song they wanted to capture on Loyal Like Sid And Nancy?
It seems that despite their efforts, the band is frustratingly close to another breakout hit, but can’t quite hit it despite some truly solid efforts across the album.
Author: Steve, Southgate Store
