Foster the People (2017)

One Liner: The Pumped Up Kicks guys, still making pop rock goodness.
Wikipedia Genre: Indie pop, alternative dance, indietronica, neo-psychedelia (oooh, "indietronica" is a new one). 
Spotify Says Similar To: Grouplove and Passion Pit (interesting)
Home: LA

Poster Position: 3
Slot: Friday, ?

Thoughts:  These dudes were last at the Fest in 2014, and so I've already done a pretty extensive post about their first two albums and some history.  Their 2014 album (not the most popular, earlier one with "Pumped Up Kicks," the next one) called Supermodel is really very good.  But, instead of going back to "Pumped Up Kicks" (321.9 million freaking streams), "Houdini" (84.1 million), "Helena Beat" (75.7 million and better than "Houdini"), or "Coming of Age" (40.7 million) from those first two albums, I'll just talk about their brand new album that just came out recently in 2017.  Sacred Hearts Club is not breaking much new ground for the band, they are still sticking to really danceable pop rock jams that are pretty fun to just jam out to. But they do extend more into electronics.  The top song from the album is "Doing It For the Money," at 5.8 million streams.

I've been hearing this one on the radio some recently, and honestly, it isn't my favorite tune. I feel like they are trying too hard to court the electronic side of their demographic and leaving behind the fun party rock in favor of sounding kind of like a trap EDM track.  And the album has other unfortunate examples of the same, like "Loyal Like Sid & Nancy," which is about a minute worth of EDM thumping that opens up a little but stays pretty lame.  The more I hear that track the less I like this whole album.  On the other hand, "Lotus Eater" is a good rock song that should be their yardstick for measuring good songs.  Reminds me of Spoon and Two Door Cinema Club.

183k streams, so my view might just be the less popular viewpoint regarding their music. Overall, I've enjoyed listening to the new album all day - even with my reservations about going electro instead of sticking to their core sound.  "SHC" is pretty solid.  "Sit Next To Me" is tasty.  Depending on the schedule, I'd probably go watch these guys do their thing.