Faintheart’s EP is neither faint nor short on heart

By Ryan G

Every once in awhile, RadioU scoops me on a band. Faintheart is one of those groups. Turns out they are buds with The Notionaries too (that’s the dance pop spin-off band from Abandon Kansas members, remember?).

Well gosh, now I guess I HAVE to review this EP. Geez.

I kid. But in this era of hardcore, pop punk, and synth driven pop rock, I sometimes find myself missing that simple emotive, introspective indie rock. That’s polished. There seems to be a wave of bands bringing this back – one of which is Civilian, whom we reviewed last year. Faintheart also is in this group.

Most people that have heard of the band have probably heard their single “You and I” on RadioU. The song addresses a much addressed, yet timeless topic of searching for purpose. Like many common song topics, there can be a fine line between cliche and genuine, and sometimes a song can even be both. With a memorable chorus, the band manages to remain in that genuine territory. Surprisingly, the most introspective song on the album in feeling seems to be opener “Common Sense,” though. While common sense (no pun intended) is that a single should never be track one of a release, the first track is usually a bit more upbeat. We are certainly rocking and rolling though.

“Close Your Eyes” show that the band is already astute at telling a story with the music, following a familiar pattern of having a soft first chorus, building a sense of anticipation into the more assertive second chorus. It’s also worth noting that this song reminds me of some R.E.M. songs. “Man on the Moon” for example. A modern twist on a classic sound.

“Two Hearted” quickly establishes a sense of angst with a memorable guitar melody, but remains in the R.E.M.-esque territory I mentioned earlier. I also get a sense of classic Tooth and Nail Records bands in this song, such as Aaron Sprinkle’s project Fair.

Faintheart are certainly a hidden gem in America’s indie rock scene and I’m looking forward to see this group’s progress. Also, I read the band’s influences of Death Cab and Copeland in their bio and it seems super obvious to me now. That mesh of influences is a very good thing, by the way.

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/287657165″ /]

Score: 4.1/5

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