Now i’ll be honest when I came across Foster The People last year I was excited and claimed that they would be the next big thing and after the massive success of “Pumped Up Kids” im more than a little smug.
However there’s always the danger when a song does so well that it can overshadow your other work, you don’t want to be the next Chesney Hawkes!
Now there’s a song on their debut album Torches which I believe wipes the floor with “Pumped Up Kicks” called “Helena Beat”.
Now it was released in America back in may 2011 as the bands second single release. The single reached ninth place in the alternative charts and first in the Canadian counterpart, it was then shipped to the UK for radio play back in September. However for some reason it seems to have not been given the airplay and credit where its due, which is quite perplexing considering it was chosen as Radio 1′s Greg James ‘record of the week’.
“Helena Beat” is a typical dance driven song by the American indie group, yet on the other hand the song delves in to much darker, deeper sounding synths which wouldn’t sound out of place on a Kraftwerk album, although Mark Pontius percussion on the track keeps the single up to date and modern.
Front man Mark Foster’s instantly recognisable voice rivals Barry Gibb’s high tones on this track which is by no means a bad thing and compliments the track just right.
My one criticism of “Helena Beat” would be the end of the song, the sound seems to build up throughout the track and wants to really kick in at the end, disappointingly however it seems to fizzle and fade out. But alas its still the best indietronica song ive heard in a while.
The track produced by Greg Kurstin also has a rather watch worthy video to accompany it, directed by Ace Norton. The video takes place in a post apocalyptic world influenced strongly by the mad max films of the eighties in which a ruthless tribe of children take foster the people capture. After the children give the band members and their van a good beating they begin experimenting on mark foster leading to him being changed back into a child….. Very odd but well worth a watch, now due to its violent and disturbing content the video didn’t gain much airplay so if your of a nervous disposition you may want to shut your eyes and listen to this gem, enjoy.
Written by Paul Darlington for Prince Baron Records
