It's no secret I love this band. I mentioned them a while ago and was totally looking forward to their new album TORCHES. I honestly can't get enough of it. These guys redefined the concept of greatness. They are absolutelly brilliant! So here's my take on their new release.
Helena Beat
This song has been playing CONSTANTLY on the radio. It’s solid, definitely. I love the chord progression. It really brings the song together, and there’s a little lead part in the verses that you might not have noticed, but it also completes the verse. The chorus is simply amazing, and still follows the main chord progression, but then comes the bridge. It breaks down to a simple drum, bass and synth part. The song continues to the chorus again, and makes the song even better by repeating the lick that goes ‘wooooooo, woooo’ you know what I mean. Awesome.
Pumped Up Kicks
The acclaimed best song in the album, not in my opinion, but one of the best. Definitely pumps me up in the morning! I’ve heard this song enough that I can tell you that I sing the chorus VERY loud in the car. The verses are for listening only, because the production in them is just astounding. It makes me wonder how long it took to put this song together because there are just so many different layers of sound. The solo is cool because I’m pretty sure it was all sung into a microphone with a cool effect over it. With mainly the same structure as Helena Beat, it attaches the two songs into one. I love it.
Call It What You Want
The intro is so unique and the progression is just so simple but fascinating at the same time. Vocals start with the song title, call it what you want. For the first time on the album, we get to hear Mark’s voice without an effect. The raw quality of Foster the People. This song has a funkier quality than the electronic Helena Beat and Pumped Up Kicks. Here, you get to here Mark’s ear-pleasing piano skills. Once again with a cool vocal lick, it differs from the strong electronic characteristic of Foster the People. I simply love how they can add raw piano to synths and electric drums. It’s amazing.
Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)
Here, we hear the acoustic guitar. This song differs from all the other songs on the album, with acoustic drums, and not too many synths in the beginning. We just hear synths mainly following the vocal progression and doing lead things. This brings us back to the beginning, to the guitar, bass, drums and vocals, 3 man band typical. It actually reminds me of a Queens of the Stone Age-type thing. The bridge is AMAZING. One word, and that’s all you need to know. You’ll get it once you hear the song for yourself, if you haven’t already heard it. It just makes me happy!
Waste
Another one I’ve heard a lot, completely opposite from track 4. I like how they put the album together, some similar, some contrasting. Anyway, I like the lyrics in the chorus, saying mainly that you shouldn’t be wasting time doing other things, and you should just go hang out with Mark Foster. I like that. It really makes you think that you should get out and seize the day, not just waste it away. (Hey! That rhymes!) The bridge makes a huge statement with the chords, makes you complete your thoughts, but then brings them back with another chorus. It ends that way, and it should.
I Would Do Anything for You
Now THIS is my favourite song on the album. The chorus really makes the song with the ‘ooh la la’ part, and more of Mark’s epic piano skills. The verses are amazing but the choruses are amazing-er (Is that a word? Now it is.) They continue the song with the bridge, but the bridge continues with some very eerie chord changes for such a happy song. They go back to the chorus, and I continue to be speechless, and overwhelmed with happiness. Listen to this one. It will complete you.
Houdini
I’ve heard this one. A lot. So much that I love it even more now. It’s not a song that will make you bored after 5 times in a row. The synth lick in the choruses completes the song, without even hearing the song completely. It’s already stuck an A++. Seriously, this song should be huger than it is, grabbing an audience from kids to adults, and anything in between. Mark shows his amazing voice in this song. I love the group harmonies in this song, because it depicts their teamwork and friendship. That’s cool.
Life on the Nickel
This song has so many layers it’s hard to describe. It sounds like they had fun recording this song. You don’t find out until later that the chorus is basically the intro all over again. The verse is really cool, and actually reminds me of Florence + the Machine’s ‘Drumming Song.’ The bridge reminds me of playing a arcade video game, because of the synths they chose to use during this song. It’s amazing what you can do these days.
Miss You
This song reminds me of LMFAO’s ‘Party Rock Anthem’ because of the drum beats and synths in the chorus. You’ll find out later. The part after the verse breaks down, and into Party Rock they go. They obviously Foster it up a bit, but that makes it the whole bunch better. They pretty much go over the verse, breakdown, chorus thing again, but this time the breakdown is longer. They then build up into the chorus. You would think that this song would communicate to a large audience like I said with Houdini, but Houdini fits the bill. I love how the song ends, just like that. Just like that.
Warrant
The last song on the album. Not if you got it on iTunes or at Best Buy! But I’m just reviewing the CD. So :( This song has the best beat out of all 10 songs. It concludes the whole album, and would be an amazing show-ender, calming the audience down, before they realize that the concert is over. It’s a sad song, but the chorus makes it happy, even though the lyrics are still a bit depressing. The synth lick in this song is really cool. It follows the bass in the verses, but adds on to it. The verses almost make me want to cry because I know that the album is already over. They should’ve made a double record or something. Darn! Then comes Mark with the megaphone, and kills everybody listening to the song with his amazing skills. What you don’t know when you’re listening to the song, is that it’s actually 5 minutes long. But, they go buy so fast when you’re listening to the song, that they’re gone in a heartbeat.
Overall this gets a rating of 6 out of 5. I’m being completely honest, and please take my word for it and buy this record, if you don’t already have it. The singles you hear on the radio are just a little glimpse of their talents. I bought the album on iTunes, where you receive one bonus track, but I’m heading down to Best Buy to get the other two. Get addicted!
