For fans of indie sleaze, or even of the term “indie sleaze,” The Faint have been keeping it alive since their debut album, Media, in 1998. From then on and through the 2000s, The Faint obliterated hardcore scene machismo and replaced it with dance-floor hysteria — fitting for an electro-punk band whose catalogue includes an album called Danse Macabre.
Best known for the fibrillated pulse and alienated air of dark dance tracks such as “Agenda Suicide,” The Faint can also pull off punk and techno-pop just as authoritatively. The 2004 track “I Disappear” sounds like an early Arctic Monkeys gem, while 1999’s “Worked Up So Sexual” could have emerged from a summit between Oingo Boingo and Of Montreal.
The intervals between albums by The Faint lengthened almost as if by design: one year between Media and 1999’s Blank-Wave Arcade; two years to 2001’s Danse Macabre; three to 2004’s Wet From Birth; four to 2008’s Fasciination. After that it officially became a hiatus, with The Faint stepping away until 2014’s Doom Abuse.
Doom Abuse is raw, aggressive and faster than previous Faint albums, a style embodied by the harsh noise and distorted bass of opening track “Help In The Head.” Another standout is the chaotic “Animal Needs,” as dizzying to listen to as it is to dance to.
2019’s Egowerk marked an emphatic return to the synthetic punk sound of Danse Macabre. From the opening seconds, the album is slick: The title track feels like entering a smoke-filled neon dungeon with blinding strobes. “Own My Eyes” would be a song to dance to at a cult ceremony, full of choral chanting and hypnotic drums. Egowerk also reflects just how much ethereal gothic sound has filtered into vocalist Todd Fink’s parallel solo DJ career.
They might hate being called “catchy” but The Faint in concert encapsulate both a punk show and a rave with hooks to yell along to. It was a good time in 1998, and The Faint’s subsequent releases have proven that it’ll be even better 28 years later.
The Faint play 7pm Friday, November 13 at Las Rosas in Miami with Violet Silhouette. thefaint.com ~ Erik Kvarnberg
