Pumped Up Kicks
Encyclopedia
"Pumped Up Kicks" is a song by American indie pop
band Foster the People
. It was released as the group's debut single in September 2010, and was later included on their EP
Foster the People and their debut album Torches
. The song was written and recorded by frontman Mark Foster while working as a commercial jingle writer at Mophonics in the Venice
district of Los Angeles
. Contrasting with the upbeat musical composition, the lyrics describe a youth's homicidal thoughts of a killing spree.
"Pumped Up Kicks" received considerable attention after it was posted online in 2010, and it helped the group garner a multi-album record deal with Columbia Records
imprint Startime International
before the group had issued a commercial release. The song became both a crossover hit and a sleeper hit
, as it received airplay on modern rock
stations soon after its release in September 2010, and in mid-2011 began seeing noticeable airplay on contemporary hit radio
stations. The song spent eight consecutive weeks at number three in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100
, making it the first Billboard Alternative Songs number-one single to crack the U.S. top 5 since Kings of Leon
's "Use Somebody
" in 2009. The song was widely praised by critics, and it has been licensed for use in a wide range of popular media since its release.
, he played all of the instruments on the song, but this version is what was ultimately released.
thoughts. Foster said, "I was trying to get inside the head of an isolated, psychotic kid." He stated the lyrics were written to "bring awareness" to the issue of gun violence
amongst youth, which he feels is an epidemic perpetuated by "lack of family, lack of love, and isolation". Some people have speculated that the song is a reference to the Westroads Mall shooting
in Omaha, Nebraska
; the shooter was Robert Hawkins
, and the first lyrics of the song are "Robert's got a quick hand". Similarly, Hawkins stole his stepfather's AKM
-style rifle, and in the song, the alleged shooter steals his dad's revolver. However, the band's publicist told an Omaha World Herald reporter, "This is completely false. The character name in the song is just a coincidence."
Contrasting with the dark lyrics of the song, the music, which was written first, is upbeat, with a heavy bassline
and a mixture of acoustic and electronic elements. Foster said, "It's a 'fuck you' song to the hipsters in a way—but it's a song the hipsters are going to want to dance to." Jeffery Berg of Frontier Psychiatrist said, "I was so engrossed with the cheery melody of its chorus that it took me a few listens to discover that the lyrics suggest dark, Columbine
revenge."
For play on the television channels MTV
and MTVu
and the Sirius XM channels The Pulse and The Blend, the words "gun" and "bullet" were removed from the song's chorus. Foster believes many have misinterpreted the song's meaning, and he has written letters to his record label and called radio stations to complain. He explained, "The song is not about condoning violence at all. It's the complete opposite. The song is an amazing platform to have a conversation with your kids about something that shouldn't be ignored, to talk about it in a loving way."
magazine, who used the track in an online advertising campaign. The group first performed the song live at the Stand Up Charity Benefit in Venice in February. The song continued to receive attention through various blogs and soon went viral
. Foster was emailed by many people about the song, and needing professional guidance, he contacted artist manager Brent Kredel at Monotone, Inc. in March, saying, "Everyone is calling me and emailing me—what do I do? Who are the good guys, who are the bad guys?" Kredel recalled that "He went from the guy who couldn't get a hold of anyone to being the guy who had hundreds of emails in his inbox." Kredel and Brett Williams were subsequently hired to co-manage Foster the People, and they helped the group get a multi-album record deal with Columbia Records
imprint Startime International
.
"Pumped Up Kicks" was licensed
for use in a July 2010 episode of the TV series Entourage
, the first of many instances in which Foster the People's music was licensed in popular media. Wishing to release a record that would back up the song's success, the group wrote new material between July–September 2010. The song received its first widespread radio play on Sirius XM Radio's Alt Nation
channel in August 2010. A clip of the band performing an acoustic
version of the song at Sirius XM has become a popular YouTube
video as well. The song was released as their debut single on September 14, 2010. In November, the University of Maryland
's radio station WMUC gave the song its terrestrial radio
debut on the alternative rock show "Ctrl Alt Delete". The song placed at No. 32 in the Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2010
, a big achievement due to the band being relatively unknown in Australia.
Still, the fledgling group had yet to acquire much experience as a live act, and as a result, their booking agent Tom Windish secured them several club shows "to help them get their sea legs." Foster the People promoted these concerts in January 2011 by emailing fans who had downloaded "Pumped Up Kicks" from their website, notifying them of the shows. The group continued to grow its fanbase with a month-long residency of concerts in January at The Echo
nightclub in Los Angeles. By the group's third show at the venue, according to Windish, "there were hundreds of people trying to get in outside... It was an obvious turning point that could be measured in numbers." The residency also drew the attention of music supervisors in attendance who would later help the group license their music.
on which "Pumped Up Kicks" appeared. Around the same time, many alternative radio stations began playing "Pumped Up Kicks", including Los Angeles terrestrial stations KROQ-FM
and KYSR
, and it continued to gain popularity on Sirius XM's Alt Nation
channel. Mark Foster credits Sirius XM's airplay with the song's success, saying, "Alt Nation played our music before any other radio outlet in the country." On January 29, the song debuted on Billboard
s Rock Songs
chart and a week later, it debuted on the Alternative Songs chart. In May, the track debuted at number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100
, and later that month, the group released their first full-length studio album, Torches
, on which "Pumped Up Kicks" appears. On May 23, 2011, BBC Radio 1
DJ Greg James
selected the song as his Record of the Week, which ran until May 27. During this time, James released an accompanying video of him dancing to the song which he entitled and promoted "The Bum Dance".
The song proved to be a crossover hit, peaking at number three on the Rock Songs chart in July and number one on the Alternative Songs chart in June, while breaking into the top 40 of the Hot 100 in late July and appearing on the Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40
charts. Columbia senior VP of promotion Lee Leipsner said, "It was one of the only alternative bands I remember in a while that you could actually dance to. And the fact that the record has a groove and rhythmic feel to it—not heavy guitar-based at all—gave us a wide opportunity to cross the record." He credits the song's crossover success and push into the top 40 to a June presentation of new music by Clear Channel
president of national programming platforms Tom Poleman. According to Leipsner, "After we showed our presentation, we had so many Clear Channel major-market programmers come up to us and say, 'The record I want to play besides Adele
is Foster the People.'" "Pumped Up Kicks" peaked at number three on the Hot 100, spending eight consecutive weeks at the position. According to Nielsen Soundscan
, over 2.9 million digital copies of "Pumped Up Kicks" have been sold. It has been certified 2× platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of America
.
and surfing. The video peaked at #21 on the MuchMusic Countdown in Canada. The video has received over 40 million views on YouTube.
said that with the song as their debut single, Foster the People "announce themselves as major players". Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone
described the song as having a "slinky groove, misty guitar flange
and delicious astral-wimp vocals". Rob Webb of NME
drew some parallels between the song and other indie pop hits like "Young Folks
", "Paris
", and "Kids
" describing its rise in popularity as thus: "artist writes (undeniably brilliant) pop song, makes it catchy as hell, but quirky enough for the 'cool' crowd, song subsequently gets some big pimping from every blog/radio station/Hype Machine user on the planet and, seemingly overnight, becomes utterly, irritatingly inescapable."
Mark Beaumont of BBC Music
called the song a "psychedelic block party skipping tune". Reflecting on the song's fusion of various musical elements, Beaumont said the song is a prime example of how they "adapt Animal Collective's art-tronic adventurousness to incorporate the funky danceability of Scissor Sisters
, the fuzzy pop catchiness of "Kids" and the knack of throwing in deceptively downbeat twists akin to Girls
, Sleigh Bells
or Smith Westerns". Matt Collar of Allmusic said the song, like other tracks from the album, is "catchy, electro-lite dance-pop that fits nicely next to such contemporaries as MGMT
and Phoenix
". A Rolling Stone readers poll named it the second-best song of Summer 2011.
The song received a nomination for the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
.
, said, "They're walking a tightrope very well in terms of eras, formats and styles. When you mix all that together, it becomes a very good recipe for a hit that works on so many levels. It's the perfect song." Foster said of the song, "There's a spirit there and that's what people resonate with. 'Pumped Up Kicks' wasn't an accident."
The official remix of the single was released by New York City
-duo The Knocks
in April 2011, under the name "Pumped Up Kicks (The Knocks Speeding Bullet Remix)", and was made available to subscribers to the band's email list. The song was covered by Weezer
during their 2011 North American Tour, at the Orange County Fair
on August 4, 2011. Mark Foster said in reaction, "Nine years ago, I met Rivers Cuomo
at a party, and I had my acoustic guitar with me. He taught me how to play 'Say It Ain't So
'. So nine years later, to watch him play one of my songs - it was wild. I can't wait to meet him and remind him of that story."
The song was used in TV series such as Entourage
, Gossip Girl
, and The Vampire Diaries
and also in the 2011 films Friends with Benefits
and Fright Night
, as well as sampled in Shawn Chrystopher's song "All the Other Kids", from his 2010 hip-hop album You, And Only You. The whistling part of the song is part of the rotation of bumper music
played on the Michael Medved
syndicated radio programme.
On October 8, 2011, Foster the People performed the song on Saturday Night Live
.
The song is also used on the BBC programme Match of the Day
.
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
band Foster the People
Foster the People
Foster the People is an American indie pop band formed in Los Angeles, California in 2009. The group is composed of Mark Foster , Mark Pontius , and Cubbie Fink...
. It was released as the group's debut single in September 2010, and was later included on their EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Foster the People and their debut album Torches
Torches (album)
-Reception:Torches has received generally favorable reviews, according to Metacritic who gave it an aggregate score of 70. It debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold 33,000 copies in the first week...
. The song was written and recorded by frontman Mark Foster while working as a commercial jingle writer at Mophonics in the Venice
Venice, Los Angeles, California
Venice is a beachfront district on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is known for its canals, beaches and circus-like Ocean Front Walk, a two-and-a-half mile pedestrian-only promenade that features performers, fortune-tellers, artists, and vendors...
district of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Contrasting with the upbeat musical composition, the lyrics describe a youth's homicidal thoughts of a killing spree.
"Pumped Up Kicks" received considerable attention after it was posted online in 2010, and it helped the group garner a multi-album record deal with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
imprint Startime International
Startime International
Startime International is an imprint of Columbia Records in New York City started and run by Isaac Green.-History:Green moved to Los Angeles and out of his apartment started the label, armed with one band, the French Kicks...
before the group had issued a commercial release. The song became both a crossover hit and a sleeper hit
Sleeper hit
A sleeper hit, a.k.a. surprise hit , refers to a film, book, single, album, TV show, or video game that gains unexpected success or recognition...
, as it received airplay on modern rock
Modern rock
Modern rock is a rock format commonly found on commercial radio; the format consists primarily of the alternative rock genre...
stations soon after its release in September 2010, and in mid-2011 began seeing noticeable airplay on contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
stations. The song spent eight consecutive weeks at number three in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, making it the first Billboard Alternative Songs number-one single to crack the U.S. top 5 since Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon
Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion, Oklahoma but formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 1999. The band is composed of brothers Anthony Caleb Followill , Ivan Nathan Followill and Michael Jared Followill Kings of Leon is an American rock band that originated in Albion,...
's "Use Somebody
Use Somebody
"Use Somebody" is a song by the American alternative rock group Kings of Leon. It was the second single from the band's fourth studio album Only by the Night , released on December 8, 2008....
" in 2009. The song was widely praised by critics, and it has been licensed for use in a wide range of popular media since its release.
Recording
Not long after Foster the People formed in 2009, the group's frontman Mark Foster wrote and recorded "Pumped Up Kicks" in five hours while working as a commercial jingle writer at Mophonics in Los Angeles. Thinking that he was just recording a demoDemo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
, he played all of the instruments on the song, but this version is what was ultimately released.
Composition and interpretations
The lyrics to "Pumped Up Kicks" describe troubled and delusional youth with homicidalHomicide
Homicide refers to the act of a human killing another human. Murder, for example, is a type of homicide. It can also describe a person who has committed such an act, though this use is rare in modern English...
thoughts. Foster said, "I was trying to get inside the head of an isolated, psychotic kid." He stated the lyrics were written to "bring awareness" to the issue of gun violence
Gun violence
Gun violence defined literally means the use of a firearm to threaten or inflict violence or harm. Gun violence may be broadly defined as a category of violence and crime committed with the use of a firearm; it may or may not include actions ruled as self-defense, actions for law enforcement, or...
amongst youth, which he feels is an epidemic perpetuated by "lack of family, lack of love, and isolation". Some people have speculated that the song is a reference to the Westroads Mall shooting
Westroads Mall shooting
The Westroads Mall shooting was a murder-suicide that occurred on Wednesday, December 5, 2007, at the Von Maur department store in the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Nineteen-year-old Robert A. Hawkins killed nine people and wounded four, two of them critically...
in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
; the shooter was Robert Hawkins
Robert Hawkins
Robert Hawkins was a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1932 to 1949 as a Liberal-Progressive, and was Speaker of the legislature from 1937 to 1949.Hawkins was educated at Bristol, and came to Canada in 1904...
, and the first lyrics of the song are "Robert's got a quick hand". Similarly, Hawkins stole his stepfather's AKM
AKM
The AKM is a 7.62mm assault rifle designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is an upgraded version of the AK-47 rifle and was developed in the 1950s....
-style rifle, and in the song, the alleged shooter steals his dad's revolver. However, the band's publicist told an Omaha World Herald reporter, "This is completely false. The character name in the song is just a coincidence."
Contrasting with the dark lyrics of the song, the music, which was written first, is upbeat, with a heavy bassline
Bassline
A bassline is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, tuba or keyboard...
and a mixture of acoustic and electronic elements. Foster said, "It's a 'fuck you' song to the hipsters in a way—but it's a song the hipsters are going to want to dance to." Jeffery Berg of Frontier Psychiatrist said, "I was so engrossed with the cheery melody of its chorus that it took me a few listens to discover that the lyrics suggest dark, Columbine
Columbine High School massacre
The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...
revenge."
For play on the television channels MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and MTVu
MtvU
mtvU is a division of Viacom's MTV Networks which produces a 24-hour television channel that is available on more than 750 college and university campuses across the United States, as well as several digital cable packages...
and the Sirius XM channels The Pulse and The Blend, the words "gun" and "bullet" were removed from the song's chorus. Foster believes many have misinterpreted the song's meaning, and he has written letters to his record label and called radio stations to complain. He explained, "The song is not about condoning violence at all. It's the complete opposite. The song is an amazing platform to have a conversation with your kids about something that shouldn't be ignored, to talk about it in a loving way."
Initial attention
"Pumped Up Kicks" appeared on the website supergoodmusic.com in early 2010, and after Foster posted the song on his own website as a free download, it drew the attention of NylonNylon (magazine)
Nylon is an American magazine that focuses on pop culture and fashion. Its coverage includes art, beauty, music, design, celebrities, technology and travel...
magazine, who used the track in an online advertising campaign. The group first performed the song live at the Stand Up Charity Benefit in Venice in February. The song continued to receive attention through various blogs and soon went viral
Viral video
A viral video is one that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email...
. Foster was emailed by many people about the song, and needing professional guidance, he contacted artist manager Brent Kredel at Monotone, Inc. in March, saying, "Everyone is calling me and emailing me—what do I do? Who are the good guys, who are the bad guys?" Kredel recalled that "He went from the guy who couldn't get a hold of anyone to being the guy who had hundreds of emails in his inbox." Kredel and Brett Williams were subsequently hired to co-manage Foster the People, and they helped the group get a multi-album record deal with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
imprint Startime International
Startime International
Startime International is an imprint of Columbia Records in New York City started and run by Isaac Green.-History:Green moved to Los Angeles and out of his apartment started the label, armed with one band, the French Kicks...
.
"Pumped Up Kicks" was licensed
Music licensing
Music licensing is the licensed use of copyrighted music. Music licensing is intended to ensure that the creators of musical works get paid for their work. A purchaser of recorded music owns the media on which the music is stored, not the music itself...
for use in a July 2010 episode of the TV series Entourage
Entourage (TV series)
Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
, the first of many instances in which Foster the People's music was licensed in popular media. Wishing to release a record that would back up the song's success, the group wrote new material between July–September 2010. The song received its first widespread radio play on Sirius XM Radio's Alt Nation
Alt Nation
Alt Nation is an Alternative rock radio station on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 36 , XM Satellite Radio channel 36 and on Dish Network channel 6036. Until February 9, 2010, it was on Direct TV channel 834.Alt Nation began back in 2002, when Sirius Satellite Radio launched...
channel in August 2010. A clip of the band performing an acoustic
Acoustic
Acoustic may refer to:In science:* Acoustics, a branch of physics that studies sound** Musical acoustics, the branch of acoustics that studies the physics of music** Acoustic metamaterials, engineered materials with atypical properties...
version of the song at Sirius XM has become a popular YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video as well. The song was released as their debut single on September 14, 2010. In November, the University of Maryland
University of Maryland
When the term "University of Maryland" is used without any qualification, it generally refers to the University of Maryland, College Park.University of Maryland may refer to the following:...
's radio station WMUC gave the song its terrestrial radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
debut on the alternative rock show "Ctrl Alt Delete". The song placed at No. 32 in the Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2010
Triple J Hottest 100, 2010
The 2010 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced and played on Australia Day, 26 January 2011. It is the eighteenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station Triple J....
, a big achievement due to the band being relatively unknown in Australia.
Still, the fledgling group had yet to acquire much experience as a live act, and as a result, their booking agent Tom Windish secured them several club shows "to help them get their sea legs." Foster the People promoted these concerts in January 2011 by emailing fans who had downloaded "Pumped Up Kicks" from their website, notifying them of the shows. The group continued to grow its fanbase with a month-long residency of concerts in January at The Echo
The Echo (venue)
The Echo is a venue/nightclub located in Echo Park in Los Angeles, California. It also hosted Arthur Magazine's yearly ArthurFest.-Notable performers:*Thao with The Get Down Stay Down*Air Traffic*An Albatross*Autolux*Band Of Horses*Beck...
nightclub in Los Angeles. By the group's third show at the venue, according to Windish, "there were hundreds of people trying to get in outside... It was an obvious turning point that could be measured in numbers." The residency also drew the attention of music supervisors in attendance who would later help the group license their music.
Commercial breakthrough
In January 2011, the band issued their first commercial release, a self-titled EPExtended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
on which "Pumped Up Kicks" appeared. Around the same time, many alternative radio stations began playing "Pumped Up Kicks", including Los Angeles terrestrial stations KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM
KROQ-FM — branded 106.7 KROQ — is a commercial modern rock radio station licensed to Pasadena, California serving the Greater Los Angeles. The call sign is pronounced "kay rock." It is the flagship station of Loveline hosted by Dr...
and KYSR
KYSR
KYSR is a commercial modern rock radio station in Los Angeles, California, covering the Los Angeles, Orange County, and Inland Empire areas on 98.7 FM. KYSR is also simulcasted on KSRY 103.1 FM in Tehachapi, California...
, and it continued to gain popularity on Sirius XM's Alt Nation
Alt Nation
Alt Nation is an Alternative rock radio station on Sirius Satellite Radio channel 36 , XM Satellite Radio channel 36 and on Dish Network channel 6036. Until February 9, 2010, it was on Direct TV channel 834.Alt Nation began back in 2002, when Sirius Satellite Radio launched...
channel. Mark Foster credits Sirius XM's airplay with the song's success, saying, "Alt Nation played our music before any other radio outlet in the country." On January 29, the song debuted on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Rock Songs
Rock Songs
Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs...
chart and a week later, it debuted on the Alternative Songs chart. In May, the track debuted at number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, and later that month, the group released their first full-length studio album, Torches
Torches (album)
-Reception:Torches has received generally favorable reviews, according to Metacritic who gave it an aggregate score of 70. It debuted at number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, and sold 33,000 copies in the first week...
, on which "Pumped Up Kicks" appears. On May 23, 2011, BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
DJ Greg James
Greg James (DJ)
Greg James is a British radio DJ at BBC Radio 1.Having previously had experience at BBC Radio Norfolk and Galaxy North East, James started presenting the Early Breakfast show in October 2007, replacing the previous incumbents of the slot, JK and Joel...
selected the song as his Record of the Week, which ran until May 27. During this time, James released an accompanying video of him dancing to the song which he entitled and promoted "The Bum Dance".
The song proved to be a crossover hit, peaking at number three on the Rock Songs chart in July and number one on the Alternative Songs chart in June, while breaking into the top 40 of the Hot 100 in late July and appearing on the Adult Top 40 and Mainstream Top 40
Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs)
The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart...
charts. Columbia senior VP of promotion Lee Leipsner said, "It was one of the only alternative bands I remember in a while that you could actually dance to. And the fact that the record has a groove and rhythmic feel to it—not heavy guitar-based at all—gave us a wide opportunity to cross the record." He credits the song's crossover success and push into the top 40 to a June presentation of new music by Clear Channel
Clear Channel Communications
Clear Channel Communications, Inc. is an American media conglomerate company headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It was founded in 1972 by Lowry Mays and Red McCombs, and was taken private by Bain Capital LLC and Thomas H. Lee Partners LP in a leveraged buyout in 2008...
president of national programming platforms Tom Poleman. According to Leipsner, "After we showed our presentation, we had so many Clear Channel major-market programmers come up to us and say, 'The record I want to play besides Adele
Adele (singer)
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins , known professionally as Adele, is an English singer-songwriter. She was the first recipient of the Brit Awards Critics' Choice and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2008...
is Foster the People.'" "Pumped Up Kicks" peaked at number three on the Hot 100, spending eight consecutive weeks at the position. According to Nielsen Soundscan
Nielsen SoundScan
Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...
, over 2.9 million digital copies of "Pumped Up Kicks" have been sold. It has been certified 2× platinum
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
by the Recording Industry Association of America
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
.
Music video
The music video directed by Josef Geiger was filmed at multiple locations in Los Angeles with insert footage from San Francisco and features the band playing a show. There are also cuts to band members doing other activities, such as playing frisbeeFrisbee
A flying disc is a disc-shaped glider that is generally plastic and roughly in diameter, with a lip. The shape of the disc, an airfoil in cross-section, allows it to fly by generating lift as it moves through the air while rotating....
and surfing. The video peaked at #21 on the MuchMusic Countdown in Canada. The video has received over 40 million views on YouTube.
Reception
"Pumped Up Kicks" received positive reviews from critics. Grace Duffy of Under the Gun said the song was more nuanced than the previous track on the album, "Helena Beat", and that it is "rooted in a pleasing beat that marches merrily on, gradually joining eerie vocal harmonies". Duffy pointed out the "detached sound of the music giving the song a light and airy vibe", and she praised the whistling near the song's end that adds to a "sense of playfulness". Barry Walters of SpinSpin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
said that with the song as their debut single, Foster the People "announce themselves as major players". Jon Dolan of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
described the song as having a "slinky groove, misty guitar flange
Flanging
Flanging is an audio effect produced by mixing two identical signals together, with one signal delayed by a small and gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a swept comb filter effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resultant frequency spectrum,...
and delicious astral-wimp vocals". Rob Webb of NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
drew some parallels between the song and other indie pop hits like "Young Folks
Young Folks
"Young Folks" is the first single from Peter Bjorn and John's third album, Writer's Block . The single features Victoria Bergsman of The Concretes as a guest vocalist.-Reception:...
", "Paris
Paris (song)
"Paris" is the second single by Friendly Fires taken from the band's self-titled debut album Friendly Fires. The song features backing vocals from the members of the American indie pop trio Au Revoir Simone, and samples the song "Sun and Ice" from the album From Here We Go Sublime by The Field.The...
", and "Kids
Kids (MGMT song)
"Kids" is the third single from MGMT's album Oracular Spectacular. It was released as a single on October 13, 2008.The song was the center of a legal dispute with the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, over the "insulting" compensation he offered for his illegal use of the song during a party...
" describing its rise in popularity as thus: "artist writes (undeniably brilliant) pop song, makes it catchy as hell, but quirky enough for the 'cool' crowd, song subsequently gets some big pimping from every blog/radio station/Hype Machine user on the planet and, seemingly overnight, becomes utterly, irritatingly inescapable."
Mark Beaumont of BBC Music
BBC Music
BBC Music is a team working in the department of Audio and Music Interactive at the BBC. Responsible for the BBC Music website - the portal site to music content across the BBC website....
called the song a "psychedelic block party skipping tune". Reflecting on the song's fusion of various musical elements, Beaumont said the song is a prime example of how they "adapt Animal Collective's art-tronic adventurousness to incorporate the funky danceability of Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
, the fuzzy pop catchiness of "Kids" and the knack of throwing in deceptively downbeat twists akin to Girls
Girls (band)
Girls is an indie rock band from San Francisco, California. Made up of two key members, Christopher Owens who is the main writer and Chet "JR" White who plays bass and produces. The band's lead singer, Christopher Owens, is a former member of the Children of God cult...
, Sleigh Bells
Sleigh Bells
Sleigh Bells is an American noise pop music duo. The group released their debut album, Treats, on May 11, 2010.-History:Based in Brooklyn, New York, Sleigh Bells is composed of Derek E. Miller and Alexis Krauss...
or Smith Westerns". Matt Collar of Allmusic said the song, like other tracks from the album, is "catchy, electro-lite dance-pop that fits nicely next to such contemporaries as MGMT
MGMT
MGMT is an American alternative rock band founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio...
and Phoenix
Phoenix (band)
Phoenix is a Grammy Award winning French indie rock band from Versailles, founded by Thomas Mars, Deck d'Arcy, Christian Mazzalai and Laurent Brancowitz.-Formation and early years:...
". A Rolling Stone readers poll named it the second-best song of Summer 2011.
The song received a nomination for the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance is a new category in the annual Grammy Awards ceremony from 2012.It combines the previous categories for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals and Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals....
.
Legacy
Reflecting on the song's success, Gary Trust, the associate director of charts/radio for BillboardBillboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, said, "They're walking a tightrope very well in terms of eras, formats and styles. When you mix all that together, it becomes a very good recipe for a hit that works on so many levels. It's the perfect song." Foster said of the song, "There's a spirit there and that's what people resonate with. 'Pumped Up Kicks' wasn't an accident."
The official remix of the single was released by New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-duo The Knocks
The Knocks
The Knocks are an electronic music duo consisting of Ben "B-Roc" Ruttner and James "JPatt" Patterson. Their single, "Make It Better," was released on Neon Gold Records in July 2010...
in April 2011, under the name "Pumped Up Kicks (The Knocks Speeding Bullet Remix)", and was made available to subscribers to the band's email list. The song was covered by Weezer
Weezer
Weezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
during their 2011 North American Tour, at the Orange County Fair
Orange County Fair (California)
The Orange County Fair, abbreviated as the OC Fair, is a 23-day annual fair that is held every summer at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, California.-History:...
on August 4, 2011. Mark Foster said in reaction, "Nine years ago, I met Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo
Rivers Cuomo is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Weezer. Raised in an Ashram in Connecticut, Cuomo moved to Los Angeles at age 19, where he participated in a number of rock bands before founding Weezer in 1992...
at a party, and I had my acoustic guitar with me. He taught me how to play 'Say It Ain't So
Say It Ain't So
"Say It Ain't So" is a song by the American rock band Weezer. It was released as the third single from their self-titled 1994 debut album.Written by frontman Rivers Cuomo, the song came to be after he had all the music finished and one line, "Say it ain't so"...
'. So nine years later, to watch him play one of my songs - it was wild. I can't wait to meet him and remind him of that story."
The song was used in TV series such as Entourage
Entourage (TV series)
Entourage is an American comedy-drama television series that premiered on HBO on July 18, 2004 and concluded on September 11, 2011, after eight seasons...
, Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
, and The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries
The Vampire Diaries is a young adult vampire horror series of novels written by L. J. Smith. The story centers around Elena Gilbert, a high school girl torn between two vampire brothers. The series was originally a trilogy published in 1991, but pressure from readers led Smith to write a fourth...
and also in the 2011 films Friends with Benefits
Friends With Benefits (Film)
Friends with Benefits is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Will Gluck and starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake. The film features an ensemble cast which includes Woody Harrelson, Bryan Greenberg, Jenna Elfman, Richard Jenkins, Emma Stone and Patricia Clarkson...
and Fright Night
Fright Night (2011 film)
Fright Night is a 2011 3D comedy horror film directed by Craig Gillespie. It is a remake of the 1985 Tom Holland film of the same name. The film had its premiere at The O2 in London on August 14, 2011, and was widely released on August 19 in Real D 3D & IMAX 3D.-Plot:The film opens with a vampire ...
, as well as sampled in Shawn Chrystopher's song "All the Other Kids", from his 2010 hip-hop album You, And Only You. The whistling part of the song is part of the rotation of bumper music
Bumper music
Bumper music, or a bump, is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to refer to short clips of signature or theme music used to buffer transitions between programming elements. Bumper music is commonly employed when a syndicated program takes a break for local station identification or...
played on the Michael Medved
Michael Medved
Michael Medved is an American radio host, author, political commentator and film critic. His Seattle, Washington-based nationally syndicated talk show, The Michael Medved Show, airs throughout the U.S...
syndicated radio programme.
On October 8, 2011, Foster the People performed the song on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
.
The song is also used on the BBC programme Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
.
Track listing
Charts
| Chart (2011) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Canadian Hot 100 Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007... ) |
3 |
| Canada (Canadian Alternative Chart Canadian rock/alternative chart The Canadian rock/alternative chart was first published on June 11, 1995 by RPM magazine under the name Alternative 30. The song which held the number-one spot on this first chart was "More Human than Human" by White Zombie... ) |
1 |
| Canada (Canadian Rock Chart Canadian rock/alternative chart The Canadian rock/alternative chart was first published on June 11, 1995 by RPM magazine under the name Alternative 30. The song which held the number-one spot on this first chart was "More Human than Human" by White Zombie... ) |
17 |
| Japan (Japan Hot 100 Japan Hot 100 The Japan Hot 100 is a music singles chart in Japan. It is compiled by Billboard and Hanshin Contents Link ever since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at billboard-japan.com and every Thursday at billboard.com .... ) |
9 |
| Poland (ZPAV Polish Music Charts The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry . The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies... ) |
3 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
3 |
| US Adult Pop Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
3 |
| US Alternative Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
1 |
| US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
39 |
| US Latin Pop Songs (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
38 |
| US Pop Songs Mainstream Top 40 (Pop Songs) The Mainstream Top 40 is an airplay chart from Billboard magazine, and is also known as Pop Songs on billboard.com. It was often mistaken for and confused with the now discontinued Pop 100 Airplay chart... (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
3 |
| US Rock Songs Rock Songs Rock Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the airplay of songs on alternative, mainstream rock and triple A radio stations. The first chart was published in the issue dated June 20, 2009. "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day was the first number-one song. The Rock Songs... (Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... ) |
3 |
Release history
| Country | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 14 September 2010 | Vinyl | Columbia Records |
| United Kingdom | 19 June 2011 | Digital Download |