Give L.A. pop/rock band Foster the People an A for ambition. It takes guts to make your second recording a concept album.
The theme is unclear (perhaps a rebuke of the American- style cult of celebrity?) but the task is intriguing or pretentious, whatever your opinion.
Foster the People (Mark Foster, Cubby Fink, Mark Pontius) has created a singular piece of music with Supermodel under the umbrella of thematic songs.
The band’s style pushes the definitions of alternative, indie, post rock or whatever-ya-call-it.
Coming of Age is a song that would’ve been considered power pop four decades ago, albeit, with a Lear jet in the distance. Despite the power pop tag, the track is as fresh and sharp as an unforeseen single that hits from sideways.
It’s an exhilarating riff, rooted in the pre-punk NYC rock scene (Big Starr, Eric Carmen and Strawberries). The song looks forward but has a sense of being around earlier.
The feeling of the unidentifiable is the album’s character: melodic but distant, familiar and also obscure. The songs are solid but weighted with atmosphere and an ambiance that threatens to swamp the tracks but never does.
There are no tentative steps. Never Mind takes an art rock aesthetic and makes it groove.
A Brill Building writing sensibility rears its head in the progressions of The Truth only to see its logic dashed by the band’s sweet tooth for reverb-happy sounds.
Sometimes it’s a drag to decipher meaning from lyrics; and better to enjoy the end result. While some of Foster’s lyrical intent may be obscure, his performance is clear. The sonic direction is driven and futuristic, and not framed in a style that’s musically conservative.
The band takes garage-rock tones (Best Friend) and brightens them with a shuttle load of rhythmic pulse and cascading vocals.
It’s an inspired sound and while its origin is ponderous, the energy and mystery of the music trumps the serious subject matter.
