With the exception of Odd Future (who I have absolutely zero time for) Foster the People are without a question the most hyped band of 2011 thus far.

Their self titled EP dropped in January, and they busted into the buzz after taking SXSW by storm, following up their festival debutante moment with a sold out tour. Their 9:30 show in June also sold out pretty damn fast.

Torches, their first full length album, is scheduled to drop on May 24th on Columbia/StarTime Intl. I was familiar with most of the other songs on the album from hearing live versions at their shows. It says much about the quality of Foster the People’s live show that I am enjoying these new songs much more in their recorded version on the album.

The songs are well produced, interesting, and rich in their layers. There are many many jams on the album, including the three tracks which were pulled from their EP – “Helena Beats,” “Houdini,” and “Pumped Up Kicks” – which in many ways are the strongest Foster tracks released anywhere thus far.

There is one major problem with the album: every song sounds exactly the same. No – really. Exactly the same. I’m almost positive “Waste” is actually just “Pumped Up Kicks” in a different key with different lyrics.

If you like Foster the People, you will love this album. If you don’t – you won’t. There are no surprises here. Not a ton of depth, and no real narrative or sense of purposeful curation in the track progression. It’s a fun trip, but a bit disappointing. I was on the buzz fence about this one, and this album makes it pretty clear Foster the People are a one trick pony.

A hot, catchy, and infectious one-trick-pony.

You can stream the entire album over at Spinner, or stream “Helena Beats,” “Houdini” and “Pumped Up Kicks” below.

 

STREAM: Foster the People – “Helena Beats”

STREAM: Foster the People – “Houdini”

STREAM: Foster the People – “Pumped Up Kicks”