Fasciinatiion (2008, Blank. Wave) The Faint's sixth studio album. **1/2Glitch electronica is so often one of those rare and criminally underrated things; that is, of course, when it's done correctly. The Faint have opened up a barrage of problems on their latest LP, Fasciinatiion. One is that they don't really know what they want to do; all the songs are very glitch-heavy, with blips and bleeps like you wouldn't believe, but at the same time they introduce an electric guitar and hip-hop elements. Experimentation is great, but it doesn't go with anything they've put out here. Not only that, but the electronica beats they do have are far too harsh; the beeps are loud and obnoxious, trying to act as a facade of intricacy. It's too muddled and in the middle, for Fasciinatiion isn't soft like The Eraser or fluent like Sound of Silver, yet at the same time it holds itself back from being as violent as You Have No Idea What You're Getting Yourself Into. And at that point the album is drab, with Todd Fink's vocals being a poor version of Phil Collins. In fact, Fink is a major problem for the album, as his growling baritone and virtual nonexistant range make him boring to listen to. Had they a vocalist like Alexis Taylor, the album's strong points like "Get Seduced" and "Forever Growing Centipedes" would be a qualifying apology for the rest of it. But alas, even the better moments - "Forever Growing Centipedes especially, as grooves don't get much crunchier than that - are only slightly above mediocre. Not to mention that their lyrics are beyond ridiculous, and even though they develop an interesting dystopian theme, it's laughable when you listen closely to tracks like "A Battle Hymn For Children."
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