Three Imaginary Girls - The Faint

Natalie Portman's Shaved Head to play CMJ, tour with the Faint

imaginary dana — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 21:33:12 +0000

Seattle-based post-teenage electro-pop sensations Natalie Portman's Shaved Head have just announced a mini-tour with none other than Saddle Creek Records' band the Faint.

"Agenda Suicide" by The Faint

Matt Schild — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 03:52:28 +0000

I'll be the first to admit that if you're going to let your personal philosophy take cues from popular music, it's probably best to let folks like Billy Bragg or The Clash set the agenda rather than a glitchy new-wave revival outfit like The Faint do it. Unless, of course, your personal philosophy rotates around nightclubs, sex and Neu albums on vinyl.

"Agenda Suicide" is the exception to that rule. The Omaha electro-dance band offers a rare glimpse of meaning on the lead single from 2001's Danse Macabre posing an almost existential question: When you're on your death bed, will your life of working and consumer consumption seem to be a rather petty waste of your time on this mortal coil? Will you devote yourself to something other than the live-to-buy agenda that's become a shallow stand-in for the American dream?

In a flash of insight "Agenda Suicide" says it's about time to get up off your ass and think about that situation before you're receiving your last rites. Of course, the band's combination of groaning new-wave synths and a big, booming back beat -- which is perfected on this track better than anything recorded before or since by the band -- makes the anti-consumerism existential crises sound really, really sexy. Stuck halfway between nostalgia for '80s synth-pop and the technologically obsessed modern electronic world, "Agenda Suicide" is sleek and so immediately accessible, it's possible to enjoy the tune without giving the band's out-of-character philosophical musings much thought.

That'd be shortchanging The Faint and yourself, though. Let's be realistic, here. I'm not saying it's time to quit your job and make good on your dream of becoming a golf pro. We all have bills to pay and real-life responsibilities we, quite simply can't ignore, but are we going to let define every last ounce of our being? Don't we owe it to ourselves to make a sliver of our soul's still ours, and make the time to paint pictures, to play in a local band, mess about with your camera, train for a triathlon, volunteer with disadvantaged children or do anything more meaningful than watch television and drool over the latest Crate & Barrel catalog?

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"How Could I Forget?" by the Faint

Erik Gonzalez — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 06:34:28 +0000

For some reason - well, I suppose there are actually quite good reasons - whenever I hear the Faint, I can't help but think of the Borg. There are a lot of synth pop bands out there, yes, but really, none of them make me think "Locutus of Borg" like the Faint. It is as if the Faint have really, truly mastered the sound that would be produced by a robot-human hybrid, a cyborg or mandroid if you will. Of course, most people think of the Faint and they think of the fact that Conor Oberst was booted from band, but they ended up on his label anyway, touring with him in support of Bright Eyes Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. It is good to see that Conor made up with the machine-men of the Faint because I'm not sure he would have lasted too long against them.

That being said, I'd have to say that "How Could I Forget?" is one of my favorite songs by the Faint. It just reeks "post-apocalyptic" future although apparently being about much more mundane topics like social anxiety, drunkenness and emotions. No wholehearted charts of 'assimilate' or 'exterminate' here! They sort of mock their fashion sense, referring to themselves are being dressed the same as the girl beside the person to which the song is being addressed. It just sounds so bleak and stripped down - it is a little gem of robotic pop - cold, calculated and deliberate dancing to commence.

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Oh the Borg, such fashionistas ...

Lagniappe: A Saddle Creek Benefit for Hurricane Katrina

Chris Estey — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 08:00:00 +0000

yes

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000BJS8DQ/wwwthreeimagi-20

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Lagniappe was born from the Omaha-based Saddle Creek label of artists witnessing the absolute horror resulting from the decimation of New Orleans last autumn, and how the terror affected people all over the Greater Gulf. Every penny paid for this thirteen song united effort goes to Red Cross relief funds. Charity is a beautiful thing, and in the case of the ontological and political implications of Katrina, nothing would seem a more appropriate cause for Saddle Creek, a label full of people who are distinctly at odds with a government that enabled the post-Hurricane devastation in New Orleans.

But don't think that I'm giving this such a high rating just because it's such a worthy cause. The album earned a '9' because it rocks. And it's not just the great shit-talking (literally, all the way through) anti-work rant of Cursive's opening. "Ten Percent to the Ten Percent" is a startling, viciously paced song in which Kasher's rage against a job with no meaning is splattered by a sublimely scatological temper tantrum ("Fuck you and your job, I'll shit where I want"). It is a wonderful litany of how daily stress and humiliation are shoving the workforce into venomous contention with the businesses that employ it ("I began stealing things"). It's a call to corporate slack-repentance that rivals label-mate and writing buddy Conor Oberst.

Speaking of whom, Bright Eyes' contribution here, "Napoleon's Hat," is probably the most vicious, existentially-riveting protest song recorded in the past few years. It hits zero to the bone like nothing less than Bob Dylan's "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" or Phil Ochs' "Here's To The State Of Mississippi." The terror in Oberst's voice is palpable as he floats lines like these above the abyss, "The barons of industry put inspiration on Hitler's tongue — the next century crashed hard with the sound of a starting gun — It's a race for more acquisition and making more things that glow — So I try to look rich and try and make it my whole look because poor people don't exist when times are good." The execution in all ways is striking, from lyrics to singing to the elegantly-restrained music beneath.

If it was just the money for charity and those two songs, this would be an essential purchase. With the glut of tribute, anthology, and charity-sponsoring collections out there (most of them mediocre at best), I still believe in the transcendent quality of a great compilation. Lagniappe does not disappoint much within its existence-frame of 45:52, with moments of bliss like Maria Taylor and Andy LeMaster's soulful and sanguine "Breathe" taking the edge off Kasher and Oberst's "Guernica"-esque mordant expressionism, The Faint's poseur-pounding "Hypnotized" confidently bitch-slapping recent contenders to their throne on the dance floor, Orenda Fink's haunting narrative acoustic take on "No Evolution" ("It was the year of the floor It was the hand of God — I know there's a cycle of death and birth but I won't lose you to this big black earth"), and the criminally-underrated Mayday's foreboding contemplation of theodicy "Footprints" all leading up to yet another deceptively poppy snarling good piss-take from the Good Life, "New Year's Retribution" ("I am just a whore").

In late September last year, artists and friends of Saddle Creek decided to create art out of necessity for others. After a week of brewing up beauty in their, "bedrooms, basements, kitchens, living rooms, and even a couple studios" they have given you a great reason to give some money to the Red Cross.

Bright Eyes' contribution here, "Napoleon's Hat," is probably the most vicious, existentially-riveting protest song recorded in the past few years.

Les Savy Fav, with the Faint

chilly c — Sat, 19 Apr 2003 07:00:00 +0000

15 Apr 2003

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Once again, a late night at work prevented me from seeing the opening band Schneider TM. One of these days I'm going to call in sick, leave early, hire a stunt double, or, why not, quit my job, just to finally see an opening band. Anyway I went to Schneider TM's web site at work the next day, but my boss walked in at that moment and I had to quickly click away to a customer service lead sheet I was 'processing.' Work continues to stymie my efforts to learn anything at all about this band.
When Shannon and I walked into the Showbox, Les Savy Fav were already tearing up the stage. The band was loud. Super-loud. One of the loudest shows I've been to in a long time. And the slam dancing was taking us back! Sigh. Bearded vocalist Tim Harrington was dripping him sweat and making so much noise, but at the same time he had this very collected air about him. You almost couldn't see him workin' it — you got the sense that he was sweaty because it was sauna-hot at the Showbox, not because he was going berserk onstage.
Ten within ten: Let's say you wanted to describe what Les Savy Fav sounded like. You could describe them according to these ten band t-shirts actually seen worn by LSS fans at the show:
1. Rocket From The Crypt.
2. Girls Vs. Boys.
3. Minor Threat (note: we looked for a Fugazi shirt but this was as close as we got).
4. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead (maybe not so much, but I think you'd also find these same ten t-shirts at a Trail of Dead show, so that must count for something).
5. The Jesus Lizard
6. Breeders [2002] (again, we looked for the Pixies, but who wears a Pixies shirt? For that matter, who wears a new Breeders shirt? The tall squinty guy who looked like he wears glasses but left them at home, that's who!).
7. Shellac (I thought drummer Harrison Haynes kinda looked like Steve Albini, but Shannon said "no way")
8. R.E.O. Speedwagon (ok no, but this shirt looked legit, not a Hot Topic reprint, so props to (I'm guessing, the older sister of) the blonde woman with the red skirt).
9. Unwound
10. Les Savy Fav
Les Savy Fav have been touring non-stop for well over a year: their last album Go Forth (French Kiss) came out in October 2001! They rocked with telepathic-precision. They totally could have bent spoons backwards if they wanted to, with their collective mind.
We heard frontman Tim Harrington say something to the effect of 'this is a new song' at least three times. This tells us Les Savy Fav are writing new songs while touring. This tells us that they are going to release a new full-length soon. The massive new songs at the show tells us that this new album is going to mop the proverbial freaking floor with the crappy cd's everybody already owns. Seriously, when Rhode Island-born and Brooklyn-based Les Savy Fav started out in the mid-90's, the New York city music scene wasn't getting near the attention that it has been since the Strokes' "Is This It?" broke bigger than the Backstreet Boys. The new-wave of post-Srokes NYC bands (Interpol, the Liars, the Walkmen, the Rapture, you name it) have all been warming up the press way nicely for the new Les Savy Fav album, when the Fav shows all them upstarts how it's done.
Les Savy Fav were sweaty. We kinda wanted them to sweat on us. In fact, my neck was sore and I had this feeling that sweat from LSS had restorative powers. But I was afraid to go into the pit with the mini-flashlight pen and the notebook I brought with me to take the notes that you're reading right now. The bulbs in the mini-flashlight pens are not all that hardy. Neither am I, for that matter.
The Faint were the evening's headliners, and it was a thrill to see them. The (currently) five-piece started from Omaha's primordial emo-ooze to evolve somehow into Nebraska's own Nine Inch Nails, moody and robotic but brazen — like the dorky kid at the middle school dance who wasn't afraid to frug to "Just Like Heaven" all alone. At the show I bought the brand new Faint remix cd Danse Macabre Remixes (Astralwerks) to compare it to their excellent 2001 release Danse Macabre (Saddle Creek) when I got home. The good-to-excellent remixes by DJ's and producers like Photek and Paul Oakenfold proves further that Omaha's current blooms are enjoying an influence far wider than its modest Midwest emo roots suggest.
By the time the Faint started playing, the pit that had formed in front of Les Savy Fav had dissolved. The Faint brought more visuals — they performed in front of two giant video screens, and it seemed like the crowd wanted to watch more so than get rowdy. The video screens showed arty clips, colors and shadows, and often, close-ups of the band members themselves. That gave the show a big arena feel. Perfectly narcissistic for such a preening, pouty (but pretty) group.
Keyboard player Jacob Thiele wore a scoop neck shirt! Scoop-neck shirts worn on stage (male or female) are #3 in the Top 10 signs that a show will be good. (#2: a bored girl plays keyboards. #1: the band plays a song that's currently in the Billboard Top 40. If you ever saw the Dismemberment Plan play Juvenile's "Back That Azz Up," you know what I mean.) Guitarist Dapose played wicked guitar, much more industrial than new wave/dance... I later found out that he used to be in an Omaha metal band called Lead, and then it made sense. His gothic playing gave the band more depth, and made them harder to categorize.
The Faint vogued and danced their way through a long set of very strong songs. When the show ended, Shannon and I drove home but wound up staying in the car for an hour listening to the remix cd I bought. We drove around the winding streets near the Arboretum in the almost-pitch dark and freaked ourselves out to Jagz Kooner's remix of "Agenda Suicide" — and that was only the first song, played on repeat, over and over.

Let's say you wanted to describe what Les Savy Fav sounded like. You could describe them according to these ten band t-shirts actually seen worn by LSS fans at the show.