Music Review: Foster the People - "Torches"

Aside from the radio played "Pumped Up Kicks" I had never heard any Foster the People songs before putting on the album "Torches." I had seen an interview with the band on the Carson Daly show and that is what made me seek them out. Here is what I found.

"Helena Beat": Girlie vocals, but almost as catchy as the best of the Bee Gees. A lot of synth, drum, clap, stuff going on and then rolls of "space" sounds. It breaks down into the non-organic sounding electro music, which really is uninteresting. This song could have been better with more straight up REAL rock band instruments playing.

"Pumped Up Kicks": This song creates a cool vibe with its lyrics and how you could interpret them. Good stuff, but overplayed on the radio stations in California as I write this. Maybe it will be a smooth jam to tuck away and revisit in the future.

"Call It What You Want": A few of the sound effects are a hit, but the entire song as a whole is a miss, with an up-tempo beat that has "singing" that might have been better as a rap.

"Don't Stop (Color On The Walls)": A decent song with the only drag being a lot of unnecessary noise and effects in the background. The cackling baby witch thing is stupid. Strip it down and you might have a Tegan and Sara song.

"Waste": The music is a fun video game soundtrack and the lyrics are sub-par pop. Weak overall and I think Zoey Deschanel could sing a better stripped down version of it.

"I Would Do Anything For You": A pop song with such sweet sentiment that you can forgive it for its generic weaknesses if you feel like some sunshine.

"Houdini": It rips open like Paula Abdul or Madonna is strutting out and about to sing, but instead you get a poor man's Adam Levine? Pretty far from Levine really, that implies some soul or funk that is not present, bad pick, kind of all bad to me.

"Life On The Nickel": Drum machine synth overload and the vocals are not really "singing," again. Simon Cowell might say it is "Karaoke."

"Miss You": A Portishead drum beat without the backbone. The echo high notes of the singer are not pretty. The drum beat gets some doot-doots added in to make it a little more lighthearted, but fun is not had. Flashdance dance in place yet to a ballad feeling? Mixed up vibe.

"Warrant": Pretty epic in scope, but I think they waste it with vocals that I do not enjoy and then a chorus that seems more worthy of a middle school choir of students who cannot and don't enjoy singing. The distortion on some of the later vocals is an improvement ha ha.

In the end, Foster The People did not end up being my cup of tea. One hit wonder? A single, not a double, triple, or homer. A bunt single.