Watch: “Skylab1979” official video via Pitchfork or YouTube
Stream: “Skylab1979” via Noisey or YouTube
Stream: “Young & Realistic” via Streaming Services
The Faint is set to release CAPSULE:1999-2016 on CD and digitally on September 30 and 2xLP on October 28 via Saddle Creek. CAPSULE:1999-2016 is available to pre-order now in the Saddle Creek online store. The 2xLP is pressed on silver vinyl and the first pressing of the album will contain a bonus 7″ featuring “Skylab1979” and “ESP.” Today the band shared the official video for “Skylab1979” with Pitchfork. The video was directed by The Faint’s Todd Fink and Graham Ulicny. Todd Fink says, “It’s a historical song so I thought it’d be nice to pair it with a bunch of old archival footage from NASA educational films. Graham suggested adding some personal touches. We filmed each other playing the song (keyboard/vox) and then started experimenting with video synthesizers to make it all more cohesive.” “Skylab1979” is streaming on Spotify and Apple Music.
CAPSULE:1999-2016 is a retrospective collection that represents a golden era for The Faint. The album includes 16 of their most beloved songs from five albums and is an excellent primer for new fans or a classic collection for those who’ve been nodding along since the Blank-Wave Arcade days. Earlier this month, Noisey premiered a stream of “Skylab1979,” one of two new tracks appearing on the album in addition to the recently released “Young & Realistic.”
The Omaha-based band had been kicking around for four years prior to that period, but had a hard time hitting their stride. “We didn’t make anything we really liked until 1999,” frontman Todd Fink laughs. The Faint released some initial material that fit in with the times—reminiscent of the post-punk sounds of Fugazi and other Dischord Records bands—but wasn’t anything spectacular, lacking the distinct personality that would eventually come to define them.
It was in writing “Worked Up So Sexual,” the hit single from 1999’s Blank-Wave Arcade, that the band struck their jackpot moment. They discovered an entirely original fusion of synth sounds over a blaring rock background, one that was as catchy as it was danceable. Just like that, the Faint captured lightning in a bottle.
“I felt lucky… like, blessed or something,” Fink remembers. “By the time we’d actually recorded those songs, we were like, ‘Yeah, this is where it’s at.’ We were excited to go play basement shows and little bars and halls and just bring the music that we hunted down, that felt like us.”
Still reveling in the success of their newfound identity, the band added death metal guitarist Dapose and released their masterpiece, Danse Macabre, in 2001, one of Saddle Creek’s all-time “big three” albums, right up there with Cursive’s The Ugly Organ and Bright Eyes’ Lifted. It was a dark and sinister work that could still be enjoyed on the dance floor. Songs like “Agenda Suicide” and “Glass Danse” forced blasts of disorienting techno beats into aggressive, almost industrial noise that leaned heavily on filthy bass lines. The album exploded, and their weirdo melange of genres brought them a sizeable audience dancing along.
Armed with their new, dynamic sound, the band released an onslaught onto unsuspecting crowds around the country—a bombastic audio/visual assault of strobe lights, keyboards, and dance-punk. At times, they were convinced that their esoteric style of punk with a fun twist was bound to turn people off, but to their surprise, the Faint began to catch on. Over the next few years, they continued to evolve on Wet from Birth in 2004 and Fasciinatiion in 2008, before taking a hiatus prior to returning for their anticipated 2014 album, Doom Abuse.
CAPSULE:1999-2016 serves to bookend this remarkable 17-year period for the Omaha vets, a time which saw them as imitable pioneers of electro-punk. In addition to highlighting songs from five of The Faint’s most popular albums, CAPSULE:1999-2016 features three new songs. The recently released single, “Young & Realistic,” and two bonus unreleased songs: “Skylab1979” and “ESP,” all of which feature latest member Graham Ulicny (Reptar) on synth duties. The new songs give a glimpse of what’s to come for The Faint, as they embark on a new chapter in their long, influential career.
The Faint have also announced North American fall tour dates with Gang Of Four and Brooklyn-based electronic artist Pictureplane. The upcoming tour kicks off on September 29 in Minneapolis at First Avenue and make stops in major cities including Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles. The tour will conclude with a hometown show in Omaha on Halloween at Sokol Auditorium. The Faint will also be performing at The Growlers’ Beach Goth V festival taking place in Orange County, California. The festival will also include sets from Bon Iver, James Blake, Justice, Future Islands, Devendra Banhart, The Drums, Cold Cave, Wild Nothing, Hinds and HEALTH. Advance tickets and the full line up can be found HERE. All upcoming shows are listed below.
09.30 – Chicago, IL @ Metro *
10.01 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
10.02 – Toronto, ON, Canada @ Danforth Music Hall *
10.05 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club *
10.06 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall *
10.07 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Trocadero Theatre *
10.08 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club *
10.10 – Nashville, TN @ Mercy Lounge *
10.11 – Atlanta, GA @ Center Stage *
10.13 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues *
10.14 – Dallas, TX @ South Side Music Hall *
10.15 – Austin, TX @ Emo’s *
10.17 – Scottsdale, AZ @ LiveWire *
10.18 – San Diego, CA @ Observatory North Park *
10.20 – Los Angeles, CA @ Mayan Theater *
10.21 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl *
10.22 – 10.23 – Santa Ana, CA @ Beach Goth V
10.23 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency Ballroom *
10.25 – Seattle, WA @ The Showbox *
10.26 – Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *
10.28 – Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue *
10.29 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre *
10.31 – Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium *
- * with Gang Of Four & Pictureplane
2. Paranoiattack
3. Agenda Suicide
4. Mirror Error
5. Evil Voices
6. The Conductor
7. Desperate Guys
8. Worked Up So Sexual
9. Posed to Death
10. I Disappear
11. Take Me to the Hospital
12. The Geeks Were Right
13. Dropkick the Punks
14. Damage Control
15. Call Call
16. Southern Belles in London Sing
17. Young & Realistic
18. Skylab1979 (Bonus Track)
19. ESP (Bonus Track)
