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SURGING INDIE-POP TRIO FOSTER THE PEOPLE BRINGS ITS ECLECTIC

SOUND TO THE GRAND SIERRA RESORT

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Mark Foster has calledSupermodel, his namesakebands second full-lengthalbum, a conversation withGod.

It may sound grandiose,but perhaps the words of theFoster the People frontmanshould be taken on faith.

After all, the past severalyears have been transforma-tive. And the indie-pop bandslatest album is ripe withheavenly touches like harmo-nies evoking the sugar-coatedwistfulness of the BeachBoys.

At 18, Foster traded Cleve-land for Los Angeles, writingsongs while working a spateof day jobs. By night, hedelved into the Hollywoodparty scene, eventuallyplunging into addiction.

He would later allude tohis personal nadir in songslike Hustling (Life on the

CONCERTS

Foster thePeople bringsmesmerizingsound to GSR By Sarah TorribioBest Bets correspondent

See FOSTER, 5

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Mark Foster and his band, Foster The People,will perform May 9 at the Grand SierraResort.

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Nickel): Take a little hit and Ilose the time.

When a friend ran into Fos-ter, he found the musicianunderfed and panhandling, andthe friend burst into tears. Itwas then Foster realized thedepth of his problem.

In 2009, he teamed up withbassist Jacob Cubbie Finkand percussionist Mark Ponti-us to form Foster the People.

The trio will perform May 9at Grand Sierra Resorts SilverState Pavilion. In a one-twopunch, they will be supportedby Milo Greene, an LA-basedpop quintet whose four vocal-ists cross the streams har-monically to form a spacioussoundscape.

Once FTPs sound tookshape, the ride sped up.

In the fall of 2010, the then-unsigned band releasedPumped Up Kicks. Few lis-teners need to be reminded ofthe ubiquitous, sunnily-crooned-yet-darkly-wordedchorus, because the synth-popconfection is a veritable ear-worm: All the other kids withthe pumped up kicks/Youdbetter run, better run, outrunmy gun.

Listeners fell in love withthe song and then, upon secondtake, some had reservations,given that the lyrics tell thestory of a troubled youth pon-dering a school shooting.

Asked to explain the songstheme, Foster alternately de-flected the topic and meeklysuggested it was meant tospawn an important socialdialogue. The tune, he insists,highlights the isolation a youngperson faces before consider-ing the idea of turning a gun onhis peers.

It was a hit, selling morethan 5 million copies in theU.S., and covered by artists asdisparate as Taylor Swift,Weezer, rapper Yonas and abass-wielding Usher.

It was also sampled, servingas a buttress for songs liketeen rapper Jaden Smithsboast-fest Pumped Up Kicks(Like Me).

In 2011, Foster the Peoplesfirst album, Torches, wasreleased to critical and popularacclaim. Other tracks such asHoudini and Call It WhatYou Want offered electronic

indie-pop as infectious asKicks.

The latter emphasized thegroups aim to follow its muserather than fashion, with Fos-ter answering the question,Whats your style and who doyou listen to? with a flippantWho cares?

Other offerings, like thelushly-layered I Would DoAnything For You, prove thatFosters chest houses a heart,to go along with his brainsdrum machine.

Torches peaked at No. 8on the Billboard 200 and gar-nered a Grammy nomination.Foster the People spent muchof the subsequent three yearstouring, with headlining spotsat festivals like Coachella,Lollapalooza and Glastonbury.

When he stepped off thefame carousel, Foster engagedin some brutal introspection.

In the song Coming ofAge, he skips to recoverysfifth step, confessing that hisambition has yielded somecasualties: You know I try tolive without regrets/I'm alwaysmoving forward and not look-

ing back/But I tend to leave atrail of dead, while Im movingahead

Traveling in developingcountries like Morocco showedhim that there is more to lifethan the mirror-gazing pursuitof wealth and image.

I got to see the other sideof it: Where people dont havewhat they need, they donthave the basics, but they wereso rich in culture and love foreach other, and internally theyhad a wealth of imagination,Foster told Paste magazine in a2014 interview. There was arichness and simplicity in howthey live their lives. It was abig revelation for me.

A hit debut album can augertrouble for a band, as the mu-

sicians face the pressure oftrying to duplicate the successof their first effort.

Supermodel, which cameout in March 2014, is no excep-tion.

In an interview with themusic site Groupie, Foster saidthat despite the pressure, hestrived to let his work comefrom a place that I have al-ways written from a placethat is free and that loves mak-ing music.

Supermodel is indeedfree, showcasing the musi-cians miles-wide range as thetracks meander from worldmusic pop pastiche (Are YouWho You Want to Be?) to psy-chedelia (Pseudologia Fantas-tica) to heart-on-their-sleevealternative anthems.

For those craving the indie-electronic slickness of Torch-es, the single Best Friendproffers a strong suggestionthat listeners shake theirgroove thing.

Supermodel debuted atNo.3 on the Billboard 200,showing fans had been waitingfor the follow-up.

The critical assessment ofthe record has been mixed, butthats to be expected theband set its own bar unreason-ably high with its debut.

With a growing catalog andundeniable musical chops,Foster the People also hasgarnered a reputation as amust-see live act, with audi-ences singing along toPumped Up Kicks and beinggalvanized by newer gems likeA Beginners Guide to De-stroying the Moon, an un-abashed rocker with fuzzybass punctuated by arcadefire.

In the Paste interview, Fos-ter said he never wanted to befamous. In the same breath, henotes, Ive always wanted tomake music, and if my musiccan be heard by a billion peo-ple? Great.

It should be interesting tosee what Foster does next.Because, while in Coming ofAge, he calls himself boredof the game and too tired torage, listeners have not yettired of this sometimes myste-rious, yet magnetic band.

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Foster the People

If you goWhat: Foster the People, withopening act Milo Greene When: 8 p.m. May 9Where: Grand Sierra Resort Cost: $37.50Details:www.grandsierraresort.com

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