Foster the People - Sacred Hearts Club review: easy on the ears and brain

With a debut single as distinctive as 2010's Pumped Up Kicks, there is pressure to forge a new sound. So Foster the People throw out multiple personalities on their third album and hope that something sticks.

Crashing in with jagged guitars on Pay the Man, the Los Angeles group weave in light pop songs (Sit Next to Me) to wear down any rough edges left by the harsher sounding numbers, such as the unfortunately named Loyal Like Sid and Nancy, an EDM-influenced fireball. Sacred Hearts Club follows the current chart trend: morally conscious pop songs with uplifting choruses that attempt to distract from the sludge of bad news headlines.

It’s an easy, breezy affair, but the short-lived bursts of joy can’t make up for the band’s lack of personal identity here.