Expectations v results
Ahh... here we go. Perfect for the weird weather we're having in NCY today: cool but not cold, wet but not actively raining, with the moisture hanging in the air, keeping the sky from becoming fully light. So then, how about a slice of gorgeous, lush shoe-gazey indie rock from Edmonton Canada's Faunts? The band is a four piece: brothers Tim and Steven Batke (on Keys and Guitar respectively), Paul Arnusch (drums) and Joel Hitchcock (Keys). They formed in 2000, and have shared the stage with other Canadian indie-luminaries Broken Social Scene, Stars and Do Make Say Think.
Their new album, High Expectations/Low Results, is really good - 9 tracks of massively layered songs that, at times, hit soft then loud, with great walls of drones and distortion-coated guitars. The songs with vocals (a few of them), strike fairly close to pre-Kid A Radiohead, which I don't personally have a problem with (see, I love The Bends just as much as I love OK Computer), though I can imagine some critics hating on them for it. But you know what? I'm totally taken by the wall of sound these guys put forth (like Mogwai in the full-on Loud part of their Soft-Loud-Soft mode), so when the songs without vocals come on, I'm just as happy. I'd love to see these guys play in a mid-sized venue (like Bowery Ballroom maybe?), because I think the songs make loads of sense loud (especially this one, through the second half of the song).
High Expectations/Low Results is out now on the tiny Friendly Fire label (also home to Asobi Seksu), and is available to buy from Insound or Amazon, or download it from iTunes - well worth checking out. I've been listening to it on and off for a couple of months, and find it very pleasurable, especially as the weather get weirder... and colder.
I'm not sure what their touring schedule looks like at the moment (though I believe they were on the road a little while ago), but for those of you in Faunts' hometown they're opening for Caribou next Monday (December 5th) at The Starlight Room.
Happy Wednesday!