SMOKE SIGNAL ALIBI.

There's a new thing called Basic Vacation and we're pretty sure they're going to be rather large. Imagine Foster The People in a blender with Fun - plus the hooks and looks of One Direction sprinkled in for good measure - and you'll have an idea of the kind of hook-driven happy ending pop they're pumping out. But no matter how you cut it, debut single "I Believe" is a straight-ahead summertime smash, and we're excited to announce the band's LA debut at Popshop West on August 22 (tix now on sale HERE). Hit City USA indeed.

STREAM: "I Believe" - Basic Vacation [exclusive]

WISH YOU WELL.

Just as you were starting to really miss The Chain Gang of 1974, he's back with "Miko", the barnstorming first taste of his next record. It opens innocently enough, like a waxing moonbeam of meditative pop, unfolding with the relaxed candor of early Bloc Party or Lightspeed Champion. But then things go haywire as it slides into hyperdrive, taking off on the pestilent wings of Isom Innis' studio magic as the Foster The People jack-of-all-tradesman turns in one of his finest production efforts yet. Buckle up and take flight below.

STREAM: "Miko" - The Chain Gang of 1974 [exclusive]

BACKED BY THE SILVER OF A FRIVOLOUS LIFE.

YesYou are the latest Australian act to wash over us and leave us breathless with bated exhales. The synthsational duo of Jono Kirkham and Gav Parry first breezed across our radar last June with debut single "Half of It" - still a jam one year on - but now they've returned with a new single featuring Marcus Azon of Jinja Safari, a band we've already featured in these pages and whose latest single "Toothless Grin" has been in steady rotation at Neon Gold HQ all summer long. "Frivolous Life" is a triumph for everyone involved, as Azon's sky-flying vocals take off into the night on the golden-tipped wings of YesYou's smoother-than-silk production. Together, they effortlessly surf the falsetto void, dancing a fine line between the shimmer and shake of Foster The People and the iridescent ooh-ooh's of Yeasayer. Carefree? Yes. Frivolous? Hardly.

MP3: "Frivolous Life (ft. Marcus Azon)" - YesYou [exclusive]

THOUGHT YOU KNEW BETTER.

We're hardly halfway through it, but this year has already been a golden one for the fairer coast, and Beat Club are the latest hopefuls looking to make a name for themselves in the flourishing LA music scene. Touting ex-members of Low vs Diamond and Julian Casablancas's touring band, the trio's debut single "Something Better" is just a wrecking ball of rugged indie pop. Unfolding with a funky and syncopated intro like the Fresh Prince theme song in skinny jeans and hipster glasses, it's not long before serrated guitar lines shred through the disguise and hook into you with razor sharp talons. Then without warning, that soaring, ebullient chorus let's loose and the rest is history. Like Foster The People covering Tokyo Police Club under a massive beach umbrella, it's pretty much it's own unique strain of massively contagious pop, so just sit back and let it take you over.

MP3: "Something Better" - Beat Club [exclusive]

YOU'RE MY GET UP AND GO.

This is the new year, and if you don't feel any different, we've got a brand new band to soundtrack your first weekday of 2012. Midi Matilda, a duo from San Francisco, are the party responsible for "Day Dreams", a silver lining pop song that combines the very best parts of Wolf Gang and Foster The People. Without a moment to spare, you're swept away by the colossal piano progression and reverb-blessed vocals, which pave the way for schizophrenic guitars and elegiac oohs to fly on by. As Midi Matilda effortlessly flip the falsetto switch that lights up the chandelier in the sky, it's the golden trumpet refrain that re-awakens latent feelings and allows you to fully escape into that everlasting reverie where your dreams are just that much more tangible.

MP3: "Day Dreams" - Midi Matilda

PERFECT GIFT FROM ME TO YOU.

Baby Monster are just as insatiable as we are. We premiered their séance of a Wolf Gang remix in early summer, and now they've lent their magic touch to Foster The People on this official remix of "Houdini". With a churning synth line that picks up where the late great LCD Soundsystem left off, the LA duo have really honed their craft to produce an interstellar clap-laden romp that you can see and hear from space, like playing pinball with the planets. The RAC treatment was here to get us through the warmer climes, and now Baby Monster arrive to keep our cockles warm in the winter months with this stellar, stargazing effort. Baby Monster The People, y'all.

MP3: "Houdini" (Baby Monster Remix) - Foster The People [exclusive]

TOOK A SIP OF SOMETHING POISON.

It's been amazing how quickly Foster The People have gone from next big thing to biggest new band in the world, and equally amazing how many remixes they've picked up along the way. We've heard and acknowledged the universal collective groan whenever a new "Pumped Up Kicks" mix is pumped and dumped - mainly because the Captain Cuts effort is impossible to top right? - so to avoid any more "Pumped Up" remix fatigue, we've got something completely different for y'all.

Enter Lenno, the 16-year old envoy for Finland's underexposed club scene. From start to finnish, Lenno blows the lid off "Helena Beat" with an entourage of lush key arrangements, nu-disco beats, and ziplining electronic flourishes. The chorus is still intact alright, with a growing synth growl that ultimately leads to a drop that literally lasts for two minutes of bliss. Whoever decided to include Lenno in the official Foster remix bundle on Spotify clearly made a great Neon Gold-approved life choice. The stream's been circulating the blogs for a minute now, but the powers that be have given us the go ahead to share the HQ mp3 as an exclusive download below. Move over Madeon, Lenno is the new kid on the blog.

MP3: "Helena Beat" (Lenno Remix) - Foster The People [exclusive]

FASTER THAN MY BULLET.

Our polygamous love affair with Grouplove and Foster the People is one of the worst kept secrets in music, so when the two LA heavyweights went head-to-head in the remix ring with each others' signature songs in tow, we had to step in and hold up the arms of both contenders because it's a win-win for the ages. Double winning.

First up is Grouplove and Captain Cuts, who kicked of 2011 with one of the greatest life-affirming standalone remixes known to man and come damn close to outdoing themselves for once and for all here, as they tag-team "Pumped Up Kicks" and whip the undisputed anthem of the summer into a monstrous club beast. What starts off as an innocuous uptempo pleasure cruise for Foster and co. turns deadly when the Captains unleash the perfect storm of seismic synths and dramatic piano stabs in the bridge, before blue skies and the summer's biggest singalong chorus returns to right the ship in the song's final minute. We honestly don't know how Captain Cuts do it, this right here is remix ART y'all.

Foster The People scratch Grouplove's back in return by redressing "Colours" in a slick waterproof number, as Christian Zucchoni's loopy vocals become brilliantly impervious to the dripping synth washes and full-moon transformation brought into play by Foster. This lofty reimagining swells with pride and bursts at the seams with icy confetti, ultimately leaving a permanent layer of stardust in its wake. These companion remixes are dark magic of the highest order, a two headed hydra of remix perfection coming together to give you the perfect remix double drop to kick your week off right.

MP3: "Pumped Up Kicks" (Captain Cuts + Grouplove Remix) - Foster The People
MP3: "Colours" (Foster The People Remix) - Grouplove

POPSHOP RADIO 004

Did we mention Popshop was coming up this Thursday? Well it is, and to ring it in we've got another Popshop Radio minimix from The Knocks featuring some seriously hot exclusives in the form of unreleased new remixes from Lightwaves and The Knocks themselves, both of whom take it to another level with shit-hot reworks of Strange Talk and Foster The People respectively. We've also got another amazing Popshop clip from our friends at Jackpot In The West, who've truly outdone themselves this time with their latest video recap of Popshop featuring Icona Pop and Oh Land. Check the video above, cop the minimix below and get ready for the glory on Thursday. Going to be a LARGE evening, friends.

1. "Pumped Up Kicks" (The Knocks Remix) - Foster The People
2. "Sister Wife" (Starslinger Remix) - Alex Winston
3. "Big Problem" - ANR
4. "Anna Sun" - Walk The Moon
5. "The Jackson Pit" - Xaphoon Jones
6. "Sparrow" - Savoir Adore
7. "Eskimo Boy" (Lightwaves Remix) - Strange Talk

SO I DON'T FALL THAT WAY.

Foster The People already owned our 2010 with one of our favorite songs of the year in "Pumped Up Kicks", a track that seems destined for nigh-on omnipresence in 2011 once Columbia gets a proper campaign behind it and it sees a proper release January 25th as part of the band's self-titled debut EP. With the EP date looming heavy on the horizon, the band have released brand new track "Helena Beat" into the wild and it is a stone cold jam, everything we could have hoped for and more for the band's follow up to "Kicks".

MP3: "Helena Beat" - Foster The People

ALL THE OTHER KIDS.

Quite possibly the most sought after new act in the US, Foster The People have spent the first half of 2010 at the center of a serious major label A&R scrum, and with immense tracks like "Pumped Up Kicks" it's not hard to see why. Combining the production aesthetic of Peter Bjorn & John with the summery falsettos of MGMT or Empire of the Sun, "Pumped Up Kicks" has indie summer anthem written all over it, and with a major label deal already rumored to be in place for the Los Angeles four piece you can expect to be hearing a good deal more from this lot in the second half of '10. But in the meantime it's time to break out the swimwear and pump up those hi-tops, summertime is here.

MP3: "Pumped Up Kicks" - Foster The People