Foster The People - 'Sacred Hearts Club' Album Review

Foster the People – ‘Sacred Hearts Club’

LA based indie band Foster the People burst onto the scene way back in 2011 with ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ and their debut album ‘Torches’, a truly brilliant debut record that simultaneously managed to carve its way into the sub-consciousness of the pop-world whilst still maintaining its indie, artistic credibility, a feat that has to be applauded. This was managed to very little extent in comparison to its little brother on the group’s second album ‘Supermodel’, an album with a progressive sound that ultimately disappointed due to its disjointed nature and attempt to appeal to the masses. So, on new album ‘Sacred Hearts Club’, would the band manage to reach the heights of ‘Torches’, or continue to sink on the back of ‘Supermodel’.

Sadly, the latter is correct. This new record feels like a desperate attempt by the band to challenge the mainstream and results in an album that sounds like every other band out there. The band have opted for basic, infectious styled choruses that simply disappoint as opposed to the clever witticisms and challenging topics of their previous work. ‘Doing It For The Money’ is certainly guilty of this particular charge, sounding like a disastrous rock attempt by Take That, this songs spells the death of the rest of this record. The band's somewhat annoying, zealous use of the synth quickly becomes tiring and frontman Mark Foster’s up-pitched vocals pain the ears on occasion. ‘Pay The Man’ & ‘SHC’ are the songs on this record that seem closest to the ‘Torches’ era of the band, but they are shaded by the rest of this dire album.

On ‘Sacred Hearts Club’, Foster The People have attempted to tap into the indie-electronica sound that made their debut album so popular, yet have come up short. Instead of clever backing beats that were once interweaved into strong guitar chords and words, the band have opted to use generic EDM/Trap styled beats that just end up becoming lost and poor in comparison to the vocals being provided. This group certainly need to have a good look at themselves and attempt to rediscover their previous form after 'Sacred Hearts Club'

Overall Rating- 4/10

Fave Tracks- ‘Pay The Man’, ‘SHC’

Least Fave Tracks- ‘Doing It For The Money’, ‘I Love My Friends’, ‘Lotus Eater, ‘Static Space Lover’