Sequels have a bad rap don’t they? People sometimes have a tough time separating something new from what they remember with the original. Foster the People had an exceptional debut album, Torches, highlighted by the international smash hit “Pumped Up Kicks.” Usually, this allows the band to be “experimental” in their next release(s). Enter Supermodel. Originally, Mark Foster wanted to name the album A Beginner’s Guide To Destroying The Moon (the name of a track on the album), but the band decided it was too wordy and decided on Supermodel. The new title makes sense, as it serves as a critique of mainstream/consumer culture and the faces that drive this culture on billboards, magazines, and TV commercials. Those that liked Torches for it’s explosive percussion elements and electronically produced sound, may find Supermodel off putting.
The first thing the listener notices on a listen-through of Supermodel is that it is more organic sounding than its predecessor. The only three songs on this album that would fit on Torches are “Coming of Age”, “Pseudologia Fantastica”, and “Best Friend”. The rest of Supermodel is a completely new experience. The former is the first single on the album and features a very Beach Boys-esque ending complete with the melodic ooooohh’s and aaahhh’s that Mike Love made so iconic on songs like “Surfin’ Safari”. “Pseudologia Fantastica” could easily be mistaken for a Passion Pit song by a casual listener. “Best Friend” falls into the familiar Foster the People motif of a song that lyrically contains serious subject matter, but musically makes you want to get up and dance. Hard to imagine the line “When your best friend's all strung out, you do everything you can because you’re never gonna let it get them down” coming from a bouncy, happy song, but it does.
On the remainder of the album, the electronic production is definitively toned down. It’s still there, but only to enhance the song, not serve as the core as it did on Torches. The song “Nevermind” has a precise, melodic vibe to it, almost hypnotic. The lyrics are very introspective as Foster wonders if we can be sure of anything nowadays. He laments, “Well it’s hard to know the truth, in this post modernist view where absolutes are seen as relics and laughed out of the room.” Supermodel also has an interesting thirty-three second interlude called “The Angelic Welcome of Mr. Jones”, complete with those Beach Boys oooohhs and aaaahhs. It acts as a bridge from one side of the album to the other. Unfortunately, the second half of the album is less focused and as impressive as the first, despite it containing what is probably the best track in "Best Friend".
The issue with the final songs (A Beginner’s Guide To Destroying The Moon, Goats in Trees, The Truth, and Fire Escape) is that they all sound so completely un-Foster the People. “…Moon” feels like an attempt to make a U2/Bowie collaboration, and the last three songs are slow, thought provokers. For a band whose live shows are all about getting people up and moving, it’s hard to imagine that happening with these songs. You Ought To Hear This will be at the Counterpoint festival to see Foster the People at the end of April, so how Supermodel will translate to a live setting remains to be seen.
Top Tracks
Best Friend
Coming of Age
Pseudologia Fantastica
B Rating: 82
S Rating: 87
Overall: 82.5
Local Dates: Counterpoint Music Festival April 25-27
Like this album? Try….from 2013
Arctic Monkeys – AM
Ducktails – Flower Lane
Danny Brown - Old
Bonus: Here is a live acoustic performance of "Coming of Age" from French Radio Station RTL2
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