The Faint – Fasciinatiion review

31 August 2008, nancy @ 9:45 pm l_1200938e866a95bba34883fca7735af7 The Faint - Fasciinatiion review

So after a good 10 years with Saddle Creek, Conor Obert’s label, The Faint has released their first album completely written, recorded, and produced on their own. It’s about time they formed their own label – am I the only one who finds it weird that Conor Oberst was a member of the Faint (well, Norman Bailer) 13 years ago? The Faint is so energetic and sexy and new wave/nu rave while Bright Eyes is … none of those things – man, I hate Bright Eyes.

Anyway, I wouldn’t say Fasciinatiion is their best work despite rave reviews but it’s worth a listen. The first track, Get Seduced, shows some depth that you wouldn’t really expect from a dance punk band … which is not necessarily a compliment. I’m always kind of annoyed by celebrities commenting on their whole twisted community. You can interpret the song as an attack on the sheep of society fawning over movie stars or as an attack on self-obsessed celebrities but either way, famous people should stop biting the hands that feed them/ acting so hypocritical. Still a decent song though. Nice and sleazy.

To be honest, I’ve never been a big fan of the Faint’s lyrics and prefer not to listen too closely to them. I enjoy the synthesizers and distortion and beats, I couldn’t care less what their opinions on popular culture are. For example, Mirror Error is a great song to dance to but they can stfu about self-image and body modification. I mean, maybe I AM a shallow bitch and maybe I DO get piercings to hide my withered, deformed soul but I don’t need the Faint to tell me that. Come on, they probably pay a stylist themselves. At least for photoshoots.

Don’t even get me started with The Geeks Were Right. Watch what the humans ruin with machines? More like watch the Faint make their living by using machines to make the music that’s ironically criticizing technology. I hope those lyrics were written during some crazy acid trip. The song’s awesome otherwise though.

I don’t know if I like it better than Wet From Birth. I don’t know why everyone hated Wet From Birth – it wasn’t as good as Danse Macabre or Blank-Wave Arcade but it wasn’t worth a 5.5/10 (I’m looking at you, Pitchfork). If you’re looking for deep, meaningful lyrics from the Faint, you’re delusional. Allow me to recommend some Bob Dylan or better yet, go read a book.

AWmusic