sealed human: press: blank-wave review
Blank-Wave Arcade
reviewed by Eric G. for Drawer B
The Faint is a quartet that bows humbly to the sexually
energized synth pop of the early eighties while retaining a
dark, modern edge. Imagine if Blur's Damon Albarn were the
lead singer for Duran Duran around the time of "Careless
Memories" and "Planet Earth." The Faint is unapologetic
about its blatant obsession with sex, and it's hard to ignore
these hooks and chops. The music follows closely the
example set by Duran Duran, which combined traditional
rock-based instruments with loads of keyboards and drum
machines. Where Duran Duran was a self-proclaimed mix of
Chic and the sex Pistols, The Faint is more a cross between
Duran Duran, Human League, OMD and T-Rex. And they are
from the Midwest!?
With nine songs running a mere twenty-five minutes, The
Faint storms through its dark, melodic pop with the
immediacy of tracks like "Call Call" and "Victim Convenience."
Six Finger Satellite comes to mind at times minus the
Albini-esque guitar assault, although, The Faint is not afraid
to push the envelope of cathartic noise. Some tracks erupt
into a fit of calculated noise but never cross the line into
the land of aimless wanking. The production is pretty fuzzy,
but that's mostly due to the overdriven synthesizers. The
Faint doesn't seem too concerned about maintaining the
early-eighties tendency for bombastic over-production. This
album will have you slapping on your finest leather trousers
and lip-synching in the mirror in the dark. No band has had
the balls to display this level of unabashed panache since
1984
back to Blank-Wave Arcade reviews
