The band Foster The People (FTP) are going to be big. This is a prediction I had made about a month ago when I first heard their Single "Pumped Up Kicks". I came across the song after a cousin of mine had posted it on Facebook (the power of social media) and it seems like ever since then this band has been turning up everywhere I look. I see/hear them on television and the radio, I hear people talking about them (many of whom I know as I was the one who introduced them to the band), and they've been touring quite a bit; playing shows across North America - including big music festivals like Coachella and Outside Lands. They're doing all of this on the release of THREE songs off of one EP. It's really amazing.
FTP's rise reminds me a lot of the success story had by one of my favourite bands - Tokyo Police Club (TPC). TPC is a little band from Newmarket (the town I was born in by the way), and they first hit the music scene in 2006 when their EP A Lesson In Crime was released. The force of this album quickly pushed TPC to play local Canadian festivals Pop Montreal, Edgefest, and Osheaga. However within a year of A Lesson In Crime's release they played at Coachella, Lollapolooza, and Reeding and Leeds Festivals. More importantly they played The Late Show with David Letterman on April 19, 2007 which was a breakthrough for the band, exposing their music to a much wider mainstream audience. Like TPC, FTP are making a name for themselves by playing big name festivals, all on the strength of a few songs.
TPC's latest album Champ reached number 58 on the Billboard 200, 12 on the Alternative Albums chart and number 5 on the Independent Albums chart. Such numbers are not too shabby for a bunch of 20-somethings from the Town of Newmarket. I intend to watch FTP's career in the same way I've been following TPC's. FTP are from Los Angeles (a little bit bigger and more well known than Newmarket) but their rise as a band is very similar. With the release of their first full length album Torches set for May 24, their career will inevitably continue to grow. I love music and seeing these small bands have this kind of success is a great thing. Needless to say, I think TPC is great - and getting better - and if FTP follow a similar trajectory as they did - which seems likely - then I am excited for what they have to offer in the future. I own all of TPC's albums, I have seen them play live at least three times, and I consider Champ to be the 'soundtrack' of my summer last year. I have already publicly made the assertion that FTP's Single "Pumped Up Kicks" will be the 'song of the summer' this year (in terms of popularity and mass exposure - similar to Peter, Bjorn & John's Single "Young Folks" back in summer 2006). With Torches coming out in May, and upcoming Toronto shows, FTP will - in the very least - be a major part of how I experience, and remember, summer 2011.
Various links for each of the bands below, check them out!
- Tokyo Police Club's website
- Tokyo Police Club's first Single - "Nature of the Experiment"
- Tokyo Police Club's latest Single - "Bambi" (also my favourite track off Champ)
- Foster The People's website
- Foster The People's only Single - "Pumped Up Kicks"
P.S.
This being a music post, I'd also like to bring your attention to an awesome website that a friend has recently made me aware of. It's called We Are Hunted and I have found it to be a great resource to discover new (and old) music. The site is unique in its ability to let you search music and then save your favourite tracks onto your very own "Chart" which you can then share among the site's community (a link to my Chart can be found here). If any of this sounds even remotely interesting to you, I highly recommend you check the site out!
so, when you say 'song of the summer', you say 'in terms of popularity and mass exposure'....what do you consider mass exposure/popularity? Because, it would seem that we have different ideas of what it is; to me, a song that has mass exposure/popularity would be something like Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way'...within a week of it being released it had several million views, totaling right now at around 41mill on youtube. Obviously, Lady Gaga is already mega popular worldwide, and I'm not saying 'well, lol, why can't EVERYONE be as popular as Lady Gaga?', because that's unrealistic. I'm just saying that in order to have 'mass exposure', FTP probably needs something such as TPC got when they played Letterman...they also played at UofT in first year, I think, during frosh week.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to comment on the 'song of the summer of 2006'....Young Folks?! I have never, ever heard that song before, in my entire life. You know how sometimes you can say 'oh, I've never heard that before', and then you listen to the song, and then remember it from some time ago? That definitely is not the case here; I have NEVER heard this song. I'm not saying that if *I* haven't heard it, then it's not popular, but...for a song to be called the 'song of the summer', I would assume it's popular enough that EVERYone had heard it =P
I consider 1.7 million + Youtube views of FTP's single "Pumped Up Kicks" to be popular enough to warrant the term. The band has already made its presence known to those of us who follow the alternative/indie music scenes and they are just now breaking into the wider market. As I mentioned, with the release of a full length album in May, their popularity will only continue to rise.
ReplyDeleteWhile I can't speak to your personal experiences, I remember hearing "Young Folks" anywhere and everywhere during summer 2006. Again, I am coming from the standpoint of someone who follows this particular music scene, but if my mother was aware of the song - as she was - I consider my assertion of its popularity to be valid (you can disagree on if it is sound, no pun intended). It's all subjective of course, this is a personal blog and for me, whenever I hear "Young Folks" I am reminded of summer '06.
well i just wrote a really loong post and it got deleted great :( but to summarize I was going to say
ReplyDeleteGreat post! :) and Wooo for Foster the People. When you first introduced me to them about 2 months ago I didnt think they would go anywhere with that song/ I def didnt believe that it would be a hit song of the summer. But their song is everywhereeeeeee! and now after 2 months, I would like to change my answer and say that I agree with you, this will be a song of the summer. Yes, it might not be as popular as someone mainstream like Lady Gaga but its def going to reach mainstream listeners and the band will make a name for themselves this summer, especially with their album coming out. I love following bands that rise to fame. I did that with Hedley (Not the most loved band i know/also not that popular .. but they've had a few hits in mainstream music). I watched them go from playing for a crowd of 50 people or less at the CNE to selling out at big venues in Toronto.
Also, I now have gotten into Tokyo Police Club because of you so thanks!
And the song "Young Folks" is pretty popular sho, idk how you havent heard it. I do want to say that I didn't know the name of that song before this post (Thanks matteo!) but i remember hearing it all the time and it was/ is still really popular and I always wondered what the name of it was (woo they play it at dancecave all the time!)
You both are 'into' the alternative/indie music genres, so, yes, of course you both would have heard it. That's pretty obvious. For someone like me, who does NOT listen to any one specific genre (and I'm not saying that you DO, I'm just saying that I DON'T, as in, I don't listen to any music in particular...other than classical, I guess =P), 'Young Folks' is not popular. I've never heard it on the radio, I've never heard seen it mentioned on the internet...hell, even my super hipster friends, people I've known since kindergarten who listen to awful stuff like the Moldy Peaches (dear god), even THEY have never played it (though, I'm certain they've heard of, even though I have yet to ask).
ReplyDeleteBasically, in order for something to be popular enough to be called a song of the summer, it should be popular enough that people outside of the genre should be familiar with it. Under 2mill views does not, to me, suggest that very many people have heard it...which would go on to suggest that it's not really a 'song of the summer'. Like you said, though, this is your personal blog, and you ARE into the alternative/indie genre, so what do I care >_>
Also, I'd like to state (once again) that Dance Cave sucks. It's dirty, gross, and they don't even play NICE indie music. It's unfortunate, really.
I'm so estatic to hear that FTP is starting to grow, and I do think they will continue to grow with their album release. Ever since you introduced me to them, Matteo, I've heard "Pumped Up Kicks" everywhere too; I went shopping at Fairview on Saturday and heard it in a couple of stores, and I heard it today at Vaughan Mills. If their success mirrors TPC, that would be so exciting!
ReplyDeleteAs for it being the "song of the summer," it may not reach instant popularity or success like Lady Gaga, but I would definitely call having a large mass of people discovering who they are and enjoying their music a success. If a large number of people get exposed to it, become familiar with it, and then grow to like it this summer, then I do think it does earn that title since they successfully got their name out there.
I also agree with you, Rebecca. I love seeing bands and artists that start out with a small fan base grow and rise with time. Hedley and TPC are a couple, and the most recent one for me is Far East Movement (I've been a fan since 2008, and now their music has definitely reached a huge population in recent years. I am SOOO excited for their concert tomorrow! AHHH).
As for "Young Folks", at first I couldn't remember the song off the top of my head (mainly because I am really bad with song names), but after asking my sister (who is much better at song names), she was able to trigger some memory of it, and I actually do recall hearing it fairly often. I guess maybe I don't count, since my taste in music is literally everywhere (I'm really open minded when it comes to music, haha).
I'm not saying that just because the three of us heard it and you didn't, Sho, that you're automatically wrong, but I guess maybe we were all exposed to different bits of music, and that song happens to be on our list for 2006 music and not yours. I think we all have a unique taste in music and we pay attention and enjoy different things that we want to share with everyone. That's no big! You two have actually exposed me to a lot of music and artists that I may not have discovered or listened to on my own, and I love it! Thank you! I definitely appreciate it, since music is really my life =)