The Faint
Fasiinatiion

Release Date: Aug 5, 2008

The state of Nebraska is pretty boring. On rare occasions, something worth getting excited about comes from the Cornhusker state. This is one of those occasions. The Faint’s fifth studio album is finally available to the masses. Fasiinatiion is the band’s first album on label blank.wav. Unlike their previous work, Fasciinatiion was written, recorded, produced, art directed and released entirely on their own. The Faint have toned back their sound ever so slightly, but the result is a collection of tracks that will still induce dancing, even if they are slightly out of date in their subject matter.

Fasciinatiion opens with “Get Seduced”, a track driven by its distorted bass line and a fairly simple drum track. The lyrical subject matter is a bit dated, as Todd Fink sings about celebrity nipple slips and the paparazzi. Luckily, the song is fun enough that the lyrics can fade into the background and you can focus on dancing. However, ignoring the majority of the lyrics probably isn’t what The Faint had in mind when writing this one.

Next up we have “The Geeks were Right”. The track is relatively simple. A low frequency keyboard pulses throughout and sets the tone for lyrics that relate the tale of a journey into the future. Unlike “Get Seduced”, “The Geeks were Right” is very much carried by the lyrics. Some fans might be a little put off by the song though as it’s much simpler than the majority of their catalog.

To wrap things up, The Faint take a stab at what can only be called a protest song with “Battle Hymn for Children”. Congratulations, fellas, you have now been added to the ever growing list of bands that have caused me to tune out by ranting about war. All personal feelings aside, protest songs are kind of tired by now. I understand the inherent wrongness in killing other people due to what basically boils down to differences of opinion, but I don’t need a band to tell me what’s right and wrong. I’m here to be entertained. If I wanted a lecture, I’d go back to college. If you can get past the lyrics, there’s something here that will get you bobbing your head and tapping along with the beat.

As a whole, Fasciinatiion is a fairly decent offering. Maybe not as good as their previous releases, but there’s enough The Faint’s trademark sound here to keep their fans relatively happy. Some may take issue with the lyrics in a few of the songs, while others will not like that the band has scaled their sound back in a few instances, but overall Fasciinatiion is another solid addition to The Faint’s catalog.