What is "pop" and what is "alternative" fluctuates from era to era. Nonetheless, Foster the People might just be both anyways. By 2010, alternative rock was no longer simply the garage band itself, it was instead the app, Garage Band. Songs weren't just written on guitar, they were written on the computer, and with it brought new creative opportunities that Foster the People sought to exploit, creatively. I heard them on the radio with their first hit, "Pumped Up Kicks," and, after seeking it out, found the rest of their debut album to be even better.
420 to 30: A Music Retrospective
60 Weeks to 30 Years-Old, with 420 Songs by 60 Different Artists
Here's 7 of my favorites from Foster the People.
Week 50: FOSTER THE PEOPLE
#344/420 - Foster the People, “SHC”
(originally from 2017, Sacred Hearts Club)
The fate of many alternative rock groups from the ‘00s and ’10s for me is that they tend to not hold my attention past two albums, so that Foster the People managed to put together another solid collection of new music for a third time with this album is notable. This song features one of their catchier choruses, with its dance party funk, “I want to live my life again.” The lyrics seem to be searching for a meaning they cannot grasp. I like their cryptic emotions and the music behind the feelings.
It’s an excellent production overall, with a strong beginning, strong end, and a cool ride from one to the next.
#345/420 - Foster the People, “Houdini”
(originally from 2011, Torches)
Houdini, ladies and gentlemen. It’s got some great sections, and is one of many excellent songs from their debut album.
Got shackles on, my words are tied.
#346/420 - Foster the People, “Helena Beat”
(originally from 2011, Torches)
The opening track to Torches, which remains my favorite release from Foster the People, this is an extra-electronica song from them that really gives hell, in a beat. Great tones and buzzes with headphones, it’s also one to drive through their native LA at night playing like some next generation Entourage. It has that grinding, falling away Hollywood indie rock feel to it, “yeah yeah and it's okay, I tie my hands up to a chair so I don't fall that way.”
Snugly sits as my third most-played from this album that has accompanied many voyages by air and sea.
...I wonder if Helena Beat has ever met Helen Wheels?
#347/420 - Foster the People, “Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)”
(originally from 2011, Torches)
Of the pop rock hits off this album, this is the one I prefer. The backbone of the song provided by the percussion is a lot of fun and the whistles and claps really put that quality over the top. The crazy, slippery-sounding, high-pitched laughs are weird but delightful, and the clash of joyful acoustic and trembling electric guitars is quite nice.
Pretty catchy and capable of cruising along with you.
#348/420 - Foster the People, “Pay the Man”
(originally from 2017, Sacred Hearts Club)
Don't be afraid to find your light
Embrace the day, like night
We hear the fire
We all go wild again
And you have the name
Of someone I love
You said, just keep it true
Lift up your name
Seasons change
You know it'll never be the same
We'll see the sun again
Before it fades
I just wanna say that I love you.
One of my favorite sections in any Foster the People song.
Also, curiously, the only instance out of all 420 songs on my list where a song title repeats itself, even more unlikely so, as the titles of two completely different/unrelated songs.
This is the kind of song that works equally well on the dance floor of a nightclub, as it does during the cab ride home, or, you know, whatever else you might do after that.
I also enjoy that the title of this album has shades of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Always a good association to nab whenever you can.
#349/420 - Foster the People, “Nevermind”
(originally from 2014, Supermodel)
My favorite from their second album, this is a reassuring, comforting song with a great sound that stands out to me as one of their best.
Never mind what you're looking for.
You'll always find what you're looking for.
Sometimes it's blinding in the race.
I'll be here smiling when I see your face.
#350/420 - Foster the People, “Broken Jaw”
(originally from 2011, Torches)
Another instance of going from, “what a perfect album closer” to “what? this is a bonus track??” This song pretty much has it all, and if I was trying to evangelize someone to Foster the People, I’d use this first. It’s also definitely my personal favorite from them, and what more-than-anything-else sparked my interest enough to continue following their next releases after this first album.
As you may realize by now, I love multi-phased rock songs that are cohesive and rewarding, many of my top 1 or 2 songs in previous weeks and weeks to come fit this description and this is no exception either.
It gently crashes in with some staccato electronico and keeps it chill and spacey for awhile, until about two and a half minutes in, it gets a bit techno/dance/rave-like and becomes totally transportive, wall of electronic sound. The last 30 seconds, Mark Foster absolutely belts it in my favorite vocals from the band to date where you are almost out of breath just from listening to it, let alone singing.
It’s naturally a wonder this wasn’t even included with the album unless you got it through iTunes!
I thought “Pumped Up Kicks” was a pretty good song when it first came out, which is the first song I heard from Foster the People, but it kind of gave me the impression this group would be another forgettable indie band with a flash in the pan song that got big with hipsters for awhile, but I’m glad I ended up giving the whole album a chance by happenstance once because I found a lot more great music worthy of my attention, and I look forward to more.
Next week, another transportive band that I am sure has some of the widest appeal among my various friend groups and family that may or may not be reading or seeing these posts due to… algorithms. They are behind some of the most iconic albums of all time including Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, and The Wall, and their iconography continues to appear on college dorm walls and mall kiosk t-shirts 40 years after they were originally cool. It's England’s pioneers of progressive rock, Pink Floyd.
420 to 30: A Music Retrospective
60 Weeks to 30 Years-Old, with 420 Songs by 60 Different Artists
Week 1: Johnny Cash
Week 2: The Jackson 5/The Jacksons
Week 3: A Tribe Called Quest
Week 4: Weezer
Week 5: Bob Dylan
Week 6: Led Zeppelin
Week 7: 2Pac/Makaveli
Week 8: Billy Joel
Week 9: Electric Light Orchestra
Week 10: Elvis Presley
Week 11: Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band
Week 12: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Week 13: Nirvana
Week 14: The Doors
Week 15: The Rolling Stones
Week 16: Gnarls Barkley
Week 17: Gábor Szabó
Week 18: Galaxie 500
Week 19: Simon & Garfunkel
Week 20: Gorillaz
Week 21: Ennio Morricone
Week 22: The Moody Blues
Week 23: Koji Kondo
Week 24: Rob Zombie/White Zombie
Week 25: Paul McCartney/Wings
Week 26: George Harrison
Week 27: Phil Spector
Week 28: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Week 29: Public Enemy
Week 30: The Love Language
Week 31: Barry White
Week 32: Frank Sinatra
Week 33: David Bowie
Week 34: Queen
Week 35: The Offspring
Week 36: Louis Prima
Week 37: The Notorious B.I.G.
Week 38: Nancy Sinatra
Week 39: Stevie Wonder
Week 40: Roger Miller
Week 41: Röyksopp
Week 42: N.W.A
Week 43: Sly and the Family Stone
Week 44: Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
Week 45: Supertramp
Week 46: "Weird Al" Yankovic
Week 47: The Kinks
Week 48: Eminem
Week 49: Mort Garson
View the full list of "420 Songs" here: https://tinyurl.com/y8fboudu (Google spreadsheet link)