The New Now

“Call It What You Want,” Foster The People Is One Of Most Buzzed About Bands

By | The New Now – Tue, Jun 28, 2011 10:33 AM EDT

What do Sheryl Crow, Barry Manilow, and Foster The People lead singer Mark Foster have in common? They all started out writing commercial jingles--who would've guessed?

L.A.-based trio Foster The People's contagious brand of light-hearted indie-pop has been getting a lot of buzz since their debut single "Pumped Up Kicks" dropped last year. There have been a lot of comparisons to fellow indie band MGMT--which Foster is flattered by--although I personally think "Kicks" echoes the gentle '60s-tinged sound of Peter, Bjorn & John's hit single "Young Folks."

Lead by multi-instrumentalist and jingle veteran Mark Foster, the band is rounded out by Mark Pontius on drums and Cubbie Fink on bass and backing vocals. Initially the band was called "Foster & The People," a simple namecheck to Mark. But after enough mishearings and misspellings, the band acquiesced to their current, kind-of-political-sounding current name. 

Foster The People recently played their first Glastonbury Festival this past weekend, solidifying their international appeal. If Crow and Manilow are any indicator of how FTP's careers will go, they have a lot of good years ahead of them.

Check out FTP's performance of "Call It What You Want" in Solana Beach, California, from their debut album Torches, released last month.

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