Does It Rock? Foster the People, "Pumped Up Kicks"

In ten years or so, there might be a Dazed & Confused-type teen comedy set in 2011. The trailer, or opening credits, or pivotal scene will feature this debut single from Foster the People, and it will transform the song from "kind of a hit that people remember" into "definitive song of the year."

Okay, none of that might literally happen, but I think it's plausible. My retail schmo job enables me to get some insight into people's buying and listening habits, at least to the extent that people still buy CDs. I've heard every variation... who's buying the Foo Fighters, Fleet Foxes, Bieber, Beastie Boys, Buble, some obscure European Tenor, Britney, Arcade Fire... very little surprises me anymore... except for Foster the People. A couple of times a day, someone will ask about them, and their first CD doesn't even come out until this Tuesday, May 23. The only thing most people know of this band is this tune, and it seems to be doing something for them.

Listening to the song, I'm not entirely sure where its power comes from. It's very nice but I wouldn't imagine it as the sort of thing that would grab such a large, diverse group of people. Some come in seeking it, some happen to be in the store when it comes on the radio and ask "What is this?" And I have to tell them it's not out yet.

"I bet they're millionaires already," said one customer, with a blissfully, tragically, utopian idea about how the music industry works. What does this song do for these people? What is it doing for me? It's indescribable.

It's not, like I said, an obviously great piece of work, not one that announces itself, but it's good and fresh and charming. What rocks about it is its undeniable appeal, its ineffable quality that creates this effect in a people who seemed to have given up on ever being excited by music again.

And that, that's what rocks.