The post-new-wave tsunami hits Yale

Back in early spring when I was still in Los Angeles, I found myself trapped in traffic on my way to school, vaguely listening to the radio as I waited patiently for my road rage to subside. The local college station was on the dial, playing its usual mix of indie rock, punk and various underground subgenres that was usually enjoyable but rarely made me turn up the volume in awe.

COURTESY WWW.PITCH.COM The strobe catched The Faint's Todd Baechle in the midst of another post-80's spasm.

Then a song came on that stood out from the pack like a pair of tight white Jordache jeans in an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue. It began politely enough and suddenly set the '80s loose, in all their glory, to kick ass. Synthetic drums built an insistent blueprint for bump and grind while a boy sang in a dark and sultry voice and samples danced on top of a bass-line that seemed a refugee from a lost Cars song. It was a dangerous new-wave dance party made modern and relevant. I was jolted into a half-forgotten childhood memory of longingly watching my sister, the paragon of '80s darkwave glamour, crimp her hair as she got punked out to break hearts on the Sunset Strip.

The song ended, but my love affair with this band, whom I would soon discover to be The Faint, lived on. Their album Blank-Wave Arcade got especially heavy rotation on nights this summer when I would be getting ready to go out. The Faint are a perfect soundtrack for everybody who grew up during the '80s idolizing their older siblings who could actually partake in the decade. They've grown up enough to rock it artsy-hardcore style, but they still wish that Billy Idol ruled the charts.

Even though they've been compared to everyone from The Psychedelic Furs to Thomas Dolby, The Faint are far from being some freeze-dried imitation of the era. Unlike other underground/indie bands who reference the 80's, The Faint never lapse into overwrought ironic pantomime. Todd Baechle, singer and synth-player, feels that the band's '80s touches all work in the context of more progressive hardcore/indie sensibilities. "We originally looked to the 80's as an era where melody was still crucial and when bands were really interested in the future, being futuristic and inventing new sounds," he said. New wave is just another tool in the arsenal of the multi-faceted band that's been through several different styles, bass players and even a different name since its inception in 1994. And they continue to grow and change. Todd hints that the new album they've just begun to work on may have some more orthodox elements of electronic music.

Concert

WYBC presents The Faint, Positive/Negative Men, Rose of Sharon Sun., Oct. 27, 7 p.m. Calhoun Cabaret $5

In the meantime, they're touring lots, which brings them here on Sun., Oct. 22 for our enjoyment. The Faint are renowned for putting on an amazing live show packed with fog machines and strobe lights. So bring a special someone since The Faint's hot avant-80's sounds get everyone "Worked Up So Sexual," to cite a track off of Blank-Wave. But for a band that uses the word "sex" in the title of every third song, Todd claims there are precious few groupies in the picture. "Though there was that one time I looked over and there was a pair of underwear dangling off the end of Joel's bass," he recalled. Regardless, be ready to get your groove on. As The Faint instruct: "If you've got things on your mind, shake them off." And wear fresh undies.

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