Amy's Fresh Meet: Foster The People
As all the lucky music biz people gear up for another SXSW festival in Austin, Texas later this month, bands are once again in search of pre-gig approval and hype to help them get noticed among the sprawling venues and 1800+ bands playing. One group that may well be destined for that sought after SXSW stamp of approval are 'Foster The People'. They've barely begun but already word has spread from their LA home via the instant world of music blogs. The project is based around songwriter Mark Foster, who only recruited his band and branded them 'Foster The People' last October - and have no official release as yet.
'Pumped Up Kicks' is the track that seems to be grabbing everybody's attention online. This simple bass led tune has a strange compressed vocal not unlike 'Susan House' by the Eels. It glides round your head with ease until the shimmering summery chorus grabs a little more attention (delicately). A little Empire of the Sun mixed with Peter, Bjorn and John can be heard - not least the whistling bridge. And although it's pretty darn repetitive, there's something so forgivable; breezing into your life, hanging around a while and whimpering off. Only realising you miss it when it disappears.
There are other pretty versatile tracks for listening pleasures on their site at the moment. 'Kids' seems to have a bit of Gomez/ Blur's more playful moments, 'I Would Do Anything For You' has elements of the Postal Service and a recurring piano line that seems lifted straight from a 'Dosh' record. The song could fit perfectly on day time radio with it's 'Oh la la' that's not a hundred miles removed from a mellowed out Kylie Minogue. But there's tunes there that verge into the sickly pop world of 'The Feeling' too.
It doesn't feel like the finished product just yet, but I can imagine we'll see these guys flogging their wares in a venue this side of the
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FREE FOSTER THE PEOPLE TRACK:Pumped Up Kicks
To download the free track above, right click on the link and choose 'Save Target As'
(if you're using a Mac it's Ctrl+click)
Comment number 1.
At 17:45 6th Mar 2010, Kevin McIntyre wrote:Thank you so much for this! Like everyone else at the moment, I have recently discovered this band and the music is so appealing and infectious. I love starting my day listening to Foster the People and thanks for writing a little nugget of postitive info :)
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Comment number 2.
At 22:23 8th Mar 2010, Brandon wrote:The song is called "Pumped Up Kicks" , not "Pumped Up Kids." You can hear more of their music at www.fosterthepeople.com
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