(Tracks like these, man they made me love the early days of this band)
This album starts off with “Pay The Man”. And from this beginning beat, man this is all just awkward as hell. There’s actually a lot of seriously awkward stuff going on here to be honest, even outside the beat. Mark’s doing this sort of fake rap verse, which set up against this completely awful beat isn’t doing anyone any favors. I do however like the sung hook a LOT. It’s moments like this that seriously bug me about Foster The People. There are some seriously solid Pop elements here, but Mark and company completely throw that out the window with this fake Tough Guy persona. I don’t know if this is a desperate attempt to remain hip, but “Pay The Man” should not have happened. Up next it’s “Doing It For The Money”. Now, if Foster The People are insistent on going for this much slicker, bolder sound, I think this is MUCH more of the way to go. The beat here is actually seriously booming, and I absolutely love the hook here. Say what you will about Foster The People, but Mark can certainly write a hook when he tries. As a whole, I feel like this is what they were aiming for so hard on that opening track. But “Doing It For The Money” on the other hand comes off super hip and is actually an interesting sound for Foster The People. Not to mention, that groove is seriously killer. But this also worries me a little bit. Mostly because clearly Foster The People are in experimenting mode. Which is fine, but it can get ugly really fast. That all being said, I do love this tune a lot. Then we have “Sit Next To Me’, which believe it or not is even smoother. I love the sort of very sleek and chilled out feel to this. It even has a sort of slow jam feel to it. But it gives Mark a real chance to shine, and he honestly sounds really good. The hooks continue to be a really strong element here. So far, as far as an Indie Pop album goes, this isn’t bad at all. But also, this is a far cry from the Upbeat and Danceable Indie Pop that was inescapable a few years back. This is obviously going to alienate some Foster The People fans, but for me, it’s just fine. The very shimmering, very hip atmosphere of this album continues in a big way with “SHC”. However, I feel like overall this one is a little more in their play book. This is easily the most danceable and catchy track we’ve heard yet. Not to mention, while I’ve been iffy on the production so far, I actually really dig the swirling and intense atmosphere of this track. This is just another seriously catchy and memorable track overall. But there’s also a lot of seriously weird elements going on as well, like some of those vocal effects. But like I said, Foster The People are just branching out a bit. What could possibly go wrong here…….
The answer my dear friends is A LOT. This might be the hardest album to sit through I’ve heard all year. “I Love My Friends” started off pretty nicely, sounding like sort of an updated version of one of their older tracks. But as it goes on, it’s just so damn un-memorable. The hook here, while it sticks with you and all, just comes off as half assed. The very lazy and atmosphere on this one is a little too sweet for my liking. Then we have the lyrics, which are cheesy to the point where I can barely take any of this serious. This is what I was scared of Ladies and Gentlemen. THEN, oh boy, once again we have these really weird vocal effects that add absolutely nothing. The groove is weak, and “I Love My Friends” at the end of the day, comes off as seriously lackluster Indie Pop. Then we have “Orange Dream”, and for a second I feel like I stumbled into some Foster The People nightmare. I have absolutely no clue what they were thinking here. But these sinister sounding synths, heavily altered vocals, and this big atmosphere really isn’t flattering to Foster The People. Now, I can’t complain too much about this, because it’s only a one-minute track. But seriously, I don’t know what they were even going for. Now, I don’t know what happened to the very sleek beats that started this album off, but I’m desperately looking for them by the time “Static Space Lover” rolls around. This one is just way too sweet for my liking. To the point where there is absolutely nothing to this, I feel like I’m listening to Mark Foster sing lullabies. I’m all for catchy music, but this is just way too much. But even on top of that, there isn’t anything memorable about this one at all, the hook is just so airy that it doesn’t stick at all. Then we have the painfully generic “Lotus Eater”. I can literally list off about 4 or 5 bands that this track sounds like. But then we get the actual verse here, and why the hell does it sound like Foster The People are going for a Garage Punk sound? Like, this sounds like a blatant Wavves rip off, to be honest. I can’t take Mark seriously at all here, trying to be aggressive and wild. It’s not a pleasant track, it’s barely even wild. It’s just unflattering for Foster The People. This album went seriously downhill fast.
Up next we have a seriously out of place interlude. This one has a horribly fake “Retro” sound to it. Once again, I can’t really take too much away from this being only about 58 seconds. But like, what am I supposed to even do with this? There are some really nice melodies and vocal moments here, but why wasn’t this a longer tune? And then, good LORD, we have “Loyal Like Sid & Nancy”. I honestly don’t even know where to start with this. The booming beat here is a joke, I feel like I just walked into the most Guido-Packed night club in the world. Mark once again is doing some sort of fake Rap Shtick and is really making him come off as kind of an asshole. The sung hook here is laughably bad, and honestly might be some of the worst vocals I’ve ever heard from Mark. “Loyal Like Sid & Nancy” is by far the worst track here, quite possibly the worst track I’ve heard all year. There isn't even anything catchy, it’s all just seriously obnoxious. “Harden The Paint” up next certainly really isn’t doing much more for me. Between the harsh beat which is ridiculously out of place and all of this autotune, I really have to question what the hell Mark and the boys were even going for. Like, if this came off sounding alright, I wouldn’t be pissed. But this just sounds like it was thrown together in a matter of 5 minutes. The result is seriously sloppy. The synths are nice and all, and yeah the chorus is catchy. But everything else about this one is awkward. And to think I had such high hopes for this album. To my surprise, Foster The People end up ending this album really wonderfully. “III” starts off with a very glistening and hazy electronic sound that works for Foster The People really nicely. Like, I actually got some chills listening to this track. It’s the sort of different track that they SHOULD be going for. Mark’s vocals on this one are actually really beautiful. Even lyrically, this seems so much more in the direction that they should have gone in with this album. So yeah, Foster The People, in the future I want some more of this. Because the rest of this album has been seriously painful to listen to. I think Foster The People are certainly on to something though because they DO need to branch out in their sound. But what they need to branch into, that’s the problem. This very hazy sound on “III”, that’s something special boys, but where was it the rest of the album?
Rating: 5.8/10
Give A Listen To: “Doing It For The Money”, “Sit Next To Me”, “SHC”, "III".
Overall thoughts: I mean, going into this I knew Foster The People really needed to change up their sound. Which they did. But oh boy, this is a collection of some of the messiest and confusing Indie Pop I've heard in a very long time. Half of this album shows Foster The People trying desperately to stay relevant through a series of booming beats and failed experiments. I wanted to like this album, and the few tracks here that are good are REALLY good. But overall, this is easily the hardest to listen to album I've heard all year.
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