The Faint & Jaguar Love live!
The Faint, Jaguar Love
Vic Theatre, Chicago
Friday, August 22, 2008
In May 2007, when last The Faint touched down in Chicago, it was a hot, sweaty affair, a hyper-charged electric tension palpable within the confines of the Metro’s second floor. In town behind Wet From Birth (Saddle Creek), the group rose above the wave of hyped-up, irony-laden, electro-clash one-remix-wonders and proved they could demonstrate more than just an aesthetic: They could deliver an experience.
Equal parts sex anthems and synth-dance hits, The Faint exemplified the best elements of commercial alternative electro at a time when the genre had seemingly served up everything it had to offer. Having reached such great heights, should that have been the end for Omaha’s sonic sons?
Possibly, as The Faint who performed at the Vic on Friday were a far cry from the group at the Metro. Not that the same songs weren’t played, with similar, vaguely ambiguous and artsy films towering behind the band. Yet, something had shifted: Whereas the group once seemed edgy and unpredictable, here they seemed softened and familiar. Onstage, frontman Todd Fink sported goggles to suggest a spacy, sci-fi look, yet it seemed as though The Faint’s once-futuristic sounds aren’t as far-out and far-off as they once were, begging the question: Whatever happened to the men of tomorrow?
Based on the more mature and subdued tone, it appears The Faint have grown up, at least compared to their older material. It certainly seemed that way thematically. While older favorites and live staples like the dance-inducing “Worked Up So Sexual” and “Agenda Suicide” seem youthful and bratty, moments like “Psycho” and “I Treat You Wrong,” themselves moreso songs than dance-floor fodder, both are heavy-handedly relationship-oriented.
It wouldn’t be so bad if the seemingly neutered vibe hadn’t seeped throughout the group’s set for the night, and stood in such stark contrast to such once-hypersexual anthems. Though songs from the outfit’s new, self-released Fasciinatiion don’t stray so far sonically from older material, they are tamer in tone. All of this has dulled the impact the group once delivered, stripping their trademark, claustrophobia-inducing urgency, leaving Finks and the group to come off rather, well, faint.
Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the spectrum, another outfit performed in the shadow of their past. But rather than allow previous accomplishments to diminish their impact, openers Jaguar Love moved in a set of brave and thoroughly unpredictable directions. Performing from their debut, Take Me To The Sea (Matador), the former Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves members unleashed an unpredictable, energetic, and boundaries-free set. Vocalist Johnny Whitney danced, spazzed, and trotted through the set, displaying a wider range than in Blood Brothers and alternating between shrieking, singing, shrieking, and, oh my jeez, so much shrieking. From the uptempo and urgent melody of “Bats Over The Pacific Ocean” to the falsetto-inducing “Highways Of Gold,” the band’s big, instrument-heavy sound occasionally recalled Trail Of Dead. Always expressive and often versatile, the act demonstrated a wide array of promise and potential. Funny, it doesn’t seem that long ago that the same could be said about The Faint.
— Jaime de’Medici
Category: Live Reviews, Weekly
