In an age of increasingly wacky experimental music (Baths’ Cerulean blew my mind to pieces) and an increasingly, well, appalling mainstream (yepp, I’m looking at you Bieber), the middle ground has been bereft for quite some time. However, filling the happy-medium shaped hole in our hearts is LA residents Foster The People. So underground that they’re even out of Wikipedia’s grasp, this four piece are being touted around the interwebs as the new MGMT. This comparison isn’t entirely misplaced with the quartet marrying the best of the Brooklyn band’s first album (i.e before they took a “new direction” and their music suffered for it) and The Drums circa Summertime EP (i.e before their album dropped and we realised that they’re about as exciting as magnolia paint) This combination of sugar-sweet harmonies, driving basslines, whistling and handclaps results in the catchiest pop music around.
Their three-song EP has just been released on iTunes and Amazon MP3, featuring their most popular track and currently top of my most played list, 'Pumped Up Kicks'. The four minutes, twelve seconds opens with an insanely infectious bassline, tying the track together and complimenting Mark Foster’s signature vocal; a dreamy mix between Deerhunter’s Bradford Cox and the legendary Julian Casablancas of Strokes fame. Adding a ray of sunshine to such ice-cool proceedings are warm, Grizzly Bear-esque harmonies and whimsical whistling providing the backdrop for a potential summer anthem. The band feature in the line-up for this year’s Coachella festival in Cali-forn-i-a and look set for big things further afield. Check them out at www.fosterthepeople.com or www.myspace.com/fosterthepeople
No comments:
Post a Comment