Finally, the long awaited second album from the suddenly famous overnight band. Funny how Foster went from recovering drug addict writing jingles for the radio to famous for writing a song about a school shooting. Snaps to him. Making such a topic catchy enough to be played endlessly on the radio is a tough job. So, how to follow up with such a successful first album? Well, with nothing less than what the band offers us in Supermodel.
As all opening songs should be, ‘Are you what you want to be’ is upbeat and sucks you right into this album centered more around a coming of age and growing in the consumerist and callous culture we’ve built for ourselves. There’s a definite change from the more subtle messages of torches to the outright statements made in Supermodel. And I like it. I’ll admit, some social commentary songs get to the point where their criticism sounds like whining and complaining rather than a crafted argument but thankfully, these guys have figured out how to be tactful and keep their upbeat tune while still offering the right depth to their lyrics.
Now, while I appreciate an album that holds my interesting both lyrically and with its changing use of instrumental sound, I can’t say there’s a top 20 hit here. The album is fun and good sunny drive with the windows down kind of collection, Foster didn’t manage to hit the nail on the head like he managed with ‘Pumped up Kicks’.
While no song stands out exponentially from the rest, I particularly enjoyed the lyrics of ‘Nevermind’. Written perhaps to someone lost in finding themselves, Foster offers an interesting comment, “Yeah it’s hard to know the truth, in this post-modernist view, where absolutes are seen as relics, and laughed out of the room”. By my view, Foster is saying that in this day and age, knowing what we want and who we are is no longer the goal. Those who have ‘absolutes’ in their life are disregarded as almost old-fashioned or declared that they’re closing their mind off to an idea too soon. I get it, the whole point of the song is to say its okay to not know where you’re going because regardless of what you’re looking for you’ll find it in the end, and the fear that once you finally find what you want and you’re afraid to call it out and declare it’s your choice because others may claim you’re creating something black and white when you should be in the grey. It’s a tough concept to put into words, and I really liked how he did it.
As an album, Supermodel definitely improves the more you listen to it and while it doesn’t really seem to have a song that could match the magnitude of ‘Pumped up Kicks’ off their first album, I really liked where the band decided to push their image and music style and I look forward to what they’ll give us next.
RIYL: Fun., Real Estate, Passion Pit
Recommended tracks: 1, 4
Reviewed By: Rachel Weber
