It is the middle of summer, Ozzy Osbourne has just passed away, and more and more “Recession Pop” is finding its way to the top of the charts, while Labubu Dubai Chocolate remains a trend. The world feels overrun with irrelevance and hedonism, floating over electropop beats or strange niches of Pop culture. Everything is rising in price, inching day by day towards some unescapable catastrophe, and then Fitz and the Tantrums pop back up for their yearly release of feel-good indie Pop Rock, and everything feels like it is gone back to 2013 for an hour or two.
This return to form in their new album, titled Man on the Moon, and released on July 25, 2025 via Atlantic Records, could be attributed to the strange samples and claps that fill the space behind the vocals and drums of the Tantrums, or it is just that this band is a living soul of what feels now like a simpler time. The sound surprises the listener with a mandatory injection of peppiness. This is one of the Tantrums’ strong suits, evidenced by their hits “Out of My League” and “HandClap.” Two songs from a genre of American Pop that feels simultaneously like a bygone era and a constantly resurfacing theme.
Of course, Fitz and the Tantrums are a different genre than Kesha, Gaga, or Lorde’s “Recession Pop.” A comparison would be useless; the differences between the lyrics and bass guitar of the two genres are evidence enough. Where the new pop sound is electric and tight, the Tantrums are ecstatic and loose. They have captured a sort of minor frenzy in their music. Just enough to perk the ear and invite you in to explore the subliminal yet quaking soundscape behind each of their songs.
The album’s namesake, and a pre-release track, “Man on the Moon,” produces this frenzied effect with its soaring intro and vocal distortion. Sharing a title with the album, this song was likely used as an exemplar for the themes of each subsequent song. This is a great way to write a cohesive album, and the Tantrums have released a well-polished and cohesive piece of work here, but it is hard to say that this track is the nucleus, sonically. Its sound is much more expansive and interstellar, stemming from its liftoff intro, than the rest of the album. Weirdly, “Man on the Moon” is the second track, not the first, despite its position at the beginning. This may suggest that it is not as important as one would expect from its title and popularity compared to the other tracks.
Overall, the rest of the songs on this album fit into the sound of what Fitz and the Tantrums fans should expect after over five years of consistent releases. This is indie pop with a snappy guitar accompaniment and some emotional, yet vague, lyrics interspersed between enchanting and unexpected instruments and samples. A solid job, but not the outer space adventure to meet the mythical man on the moon that the prerelease promised. However, there is something to be said about Man on the Moon being about getting “so high, we see the stars in the afternoon,” and the next song being labelled “Withdrawals.”
Moving on to the meat, how do Fitz and the Tantrums actually sound? The bass and drums are loud and droning, setting the steady 4/4 tempo that is present throughout the entire album. They are the backdrop to each song, the mainstay while the band experiments and alters everything around them. Vocals get electrified and echoed from end to end, sometimes accompanied by the female vocals of Noelle Scaggs. She plays the friendly love interest throughout the album, which is, in essence, the optimistic story of problematic young love. Optimistic, because the Pop Rock sound that Fitz and the Tantrums have built for themselves is authentically hopeful and starry-eyed. Listen to “Perfume” for a friendly reminder of what it felt like in middle school to imagine having a grown-up girlfriend.
After feeling immense pressure to succeed following the release of their single”Out of My League” in 2013, Fitz and the Tantrums took some time before releasing their second album. From there, they have since slowly built a foundation for themselves that is more substantial than their past. As shown in their work, they strive to convey a sense of free-flowing joy and have a good time while recording. Those who like authentic expressions of a happy-go-lucky lifestyle will enjoy the experience of Man on the Moon. That is why Cryptic Rock gives the new album 4 out of 5 stars.
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