SHINY INDIE-POP SENSATION FOSTER THE PEOPLE DEBUTS ITS FIRST NEW RECORD IN SEVEN YEARS, A ‘70S-INSPIRED SCORCHER DUBBED PARADISE STATE OF MIND
BY DAN SALAMONE
The last 50 years of rock’s rich history is full of innovators (or stylishly transcendent repurposers) who changed the game: the Beatles, the Stones, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Velvet Underground, David Bowie, The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, Guns and Roses, Metallica, Nirvana, Radiohead, The Strokes, and so on. Rock’s history is also full of people who listened to those innovators and thought, “I bet I could make a few bucks doing that exact same thing, too!” Yet there is no reason to view that phenomenon with complete cynicism, as some of those loving copycats turned out to be excellent on their own terms. (See: The Byrds, Aerosmith, Queen, ELO, The Jam, The Misfits, The Stone Roses, Oasis, Green Day, and The Killers, just to name a few.)
In 2006, MGMT released a debut record, Oracular Spectacular, that essentially spawned the next 18 years of indie pop. The album overflowed with sparkling glam, synthesizer heavy earworms shiny and DIY, a little indie-experimental but full of catchy crystalline melodies. Though MGMT never again reached that level of indie pop perfection again, that record still casts a long shadow over the modern genre.
All that is preamble to the story of L.A.’s indie pop stalwarts, Foster the People. In 2008, they released an irresistible pop single, “Pumped Up Kicks,” a ditty that stated irrefutably that A) the band had an easy facility with a catchy earworm, and B) they definitely had listened to Oracular Spectacular many, many times. Moreover, that single became way more popular than the album that clearly influenced it. MGMT’s highly influential debut had exactly one song that cracked the Billboard 200 (“Kids,” which peaked at 91), whereas FTP’s debut single was ubiquitous from the onset, surging all the way to number 3, and landing at number 13 on the year-end chart to boot.
Foster the People has never struck chart lightning with another single like “Kicks” again, but they have had a top 10 album (debut, Torches) and a follow-up top 5 album (Supermodel), along with a steady stream of quality tracks like “Sit Next to Me,” “Houdini,” “Imaginator,” “Helena Beat,” and “Coming of Age.” In fact, one could very reasonably argue that they’ve had a far more consistent and enjoyable career than their band of inspiration.
Further proof came on August 16 of this year with an excellent new record titled Paradise State of Mind. It’s the first new record in seven years for Los Angeles’ indie pop all-stars, since their (also excellent) 2017 record, Sacred Hearts Club. The band’s principal leader and songwriter, Mark Foster, has stated in interviews that the record reflects his fascination with both the analog musical technology of the ‘70s and the decade’s fusion of political, social, and cultural themes in music.
While the music on Paradise still captures the confectionery pop thrills of the band’s past triumphs (especially on the disco-fried “Lost in Space” and the other two singles, “Take Me Back” and “Chasing Low Vibrations”), the lyrics have a wisdom to them, exploring weightier topics like time, technology, reflection, and mortality.
The new record, despite being the lowest-charting LP of the band’s career (peaking at #170 on the Billboard 200), has nabbed the best write-ups they’ve ever enjoyed. Clash Music remarked that Paradise State of Mind finds Foster the People “lyrically at the peak of their powers. [The album] will take you somewhere to ponder and dance in another dimension.” Allmusic.com raved: “Foster the People have made an end-of-summer album full of cathartic grooves.” The hipster tastemakers at Sputnikmusic.com said, “With the influx of diverse instrumentation and delightfully wacky songwriting/production choices, Paradise State of Mind may actually be their most accomplished album to date.” All of this acclaim proves that even a commercially successful band like Foster the People can transcend their influences and forge their own powerful musical identity.
Foster The People