Foster the People

Torches (Columbia)

Kickass debut, a recipe: the Dandy Warhols’ glam nihilism, Passion Pit-style dance beats, and Animal Collective experimentation. Shake vigorously, pour over ice, and garnish with dreamy 1960s harmonies impaled on one of those plastic sword thingies. Voilà, you’ve got Torches, an arsenic-laced fizzy lemonade cocktail. Right now the L.A. indie-rock trio’s biggest problem might be overexposure, in that the not-so-sunny summer hit “Pumped Up Kicks” is in Top 40 radio rotation. While hit single and opener “Helena Beat” suggests that Foster the People has mastered the sunny-but-bitter concoction, “Waste” and “I Would Do Anything for You” provide a sweet balance on the palate. Meanwhile, dancers such as “Houdini,” “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)” with its impossibly clever line “I’m gonna kick until I need new shoes,” and “Call It What You Want” elevate the mood. Barista, another round. (5:30pm, Google+ stage)

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This article appears in September 16 • 2011.

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