Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	69/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Austin Chronicle
Entertainment Weekly	B
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
NME	7/10
Pitchfork Media	6.2/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin	7/10

Torches is the debut studio album by American indie pop band Foster the People, released on May 23, 2011 by Startime International and Columbia Records. In 2010, the group parlayed the popularity of frontman Mark Foster's song "Pumped Up Kicks" into a record deal with Startime International, and wrote the album to back the song's popularity. "Pumped Up Kicks" proved to be a sleeper hit; after receiving significant airplay on modern rock stations, the song crossed-over onto contemporary hit radio and became one of 2011's most popular songs. Four additional singles were released from the album: "Helena Beat", "Call It What You Want", "Don't Stop (Color on the Walls)", and "Houdini", which had previously been released as a promotional single in the United Kingdom prior to the album's release.

Torches received generally favorable reviews from critics and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album. The record peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200 in the US and number one on the ARIA Albums Chart in Australia. It has been certified platinum in Australia and the US, Philippines, and Canada.

Not long after the band formed, frontman Mark Foster wrote and recorded the song "Pumped Up Kicks" while working as a jingle writer at Mophonics. The song proved to be the band's breakthrough in 2010, going viral, earning the band a booking at the South by Southwest music festival in March 2010, and garnering attention from music industry professionals. Brent Kredel and Brett Williams were hired to co-manage the group and helped them obtain a record deal with Columbia Records imprint Startime International in May 2010.

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