A one-hit wonder?

 

winner. allmusic_info

 

that first album (torches) is excellent. the follow up (supermodel) had a personnel lineup change (uh-oh) and the album lacked much of the diamond drive that lit up the first album. their latest (sacred hearts club) is considerably miss-able and it looks as though they (mark foster) have fallen into a trap of trying to write for festivals, rather than the cool intimacy offered on the debut.

the torches album was released in 2011 and in 2010 I took a woman to an show they were doing in brooklyn. at that time they were only youtube/soundcloud famous so the venue was filling up with TONS of tween girls and my date was looking at me like WTFFFFFF hahahhaha - she loved the show (as did I) so all was forgiven but was definitely funny

If pumped up kicks strikes a chord with you definitely check out the Torches album- I think the bestbuy release had four extra tracks on it, 3 of which were GREAT additions

here's the best track off the sophomore release:

 

Here is the acapella version, with quite a bit of studio trickery going on.

 

Last edited: Jul 10, 2018

still my favourite version....

 

This one grew up on me too

 

Foster

 

It would be interesting to hear any demos or live recording that were made before they went into the studio. It's just a hunch, but I wonder if they got a bit of help with this track.

 

Last edited: Jul 11, 2018

A great raw talent, but she's probably been ruined by now!

 

Wow, she is fantastic, I could listen to her all day long! This is to me better than the band's own version.

 

Mark Foster had been doing various Hollywood music work for quite some time before his band hit it big..
so it wouldn't be surprising that he had access to a "wrecking crew" of instrumental and production assistance

 

extra cute how it looks like she's reading words off her hand too.. ( tho I didn't see any )
She sounds great in her own language as well.. in other clips from X factor

Foster's original bassist has left the group... not that his parts were all that distinctive
to my ears.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jul 10, 2018

It's a great production though, it would be pretty hard to top it.

 

Writing and recording
Soon after Mark Foster formed Foster the People in 2009, he wrote and recorded "Pumped Up Kicks" in five hours while working as a commercial jingle writer at Mophonics in Los Angeles. On the day of recording, Foster debated between songwriting in the studio and going to the beach. He explained: "I really didn't have anything to do that day. I was standing there in the studio, and this thought came in my mind like, 'I'm going to write a song,'... and then I was like, 'I don't feel like writing. I don't want to write a song.' I was a block away from the beach, and it was a beautiful day. I kind of just wanted to just be lazy and go hang out at the beach or whatever. But I just forced myself to write a song... By that time the next day, the song was finished."

Reflecting on the lack of inspiration he felt when writing the song, Foster said, "I've heard a lot of other artists talk about this as well, like, 'I'm not inspired right now. I've got writer's block. I'm just not really feeling anything.' And I've felt that way, too, just not being inspired and wanting to wait for inspiration to come before I wrote. But I wasn't inspired when I wrote 'Pumped Up Kicks,' and that's what came out. So... it just solidified the notion that perspiration is more powerful than inspiration." Thinking that he was just recording a demo, he played all of the instruments on the song, and using the software Logic Pro, he arranged and edited the song himself. The demo is ultimately the version of the song that Foster released.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumped_Up_Kicks

I had heard he played everything back in the day nice one

 

Interesting info. My hunch was based on the studio credits posted above, and the fact that he never equalled or bettered his first song. The arrangement is also very good for a first attempt, so well done if he did it all himself. It must be frustrating not being able to replicate his initial success though.

 

Last edited: Jul 11, 2018

pop and rock littered with such.... if I may drop 1 more example.. seems like these guys should have had more in the bag..

 

Alas, it was a cover version

 

Foster > Foster the People

 

they followed pretty closely too... sheesh.. she's damn good.. never heard this before..
and damned if the oldies stations here ever play this .. shame

I saw when I was searching for Soft Cell.. but just passed it by....

 

You took the words right out of my mouth.