Weekend Preview: The Brownies and Sound and Fury Serve up The Faint

One of the many funny things about indie rock listeners is that despite how much its proponents claim that they feel the music deeply, when you see a bunch of indie kids at a show their movements seldom amount to more than shifting from one hip to the other in order to avoid a foot cramp. The notion of dancing, of kinetic undertakings beyond toe tapping and head nodding, seems utterly absurd.

Granted, when you are catching some sullen singer songwriter, dancing like a maniac does seem inappropriate, but I can recall numerous times in the last six months where I've wanted to invoke the hallowed cry of Gordon Gano and scream "Dance Motherfucker Dance!" But, there was no need to call upon the Violent Femmes' frontman's most provocative proclamation because The Faint's new brand of Depeche Mode and Cure-inspired new wave mixed with angular modernity and a pinch of punk rock intensity took care of it all on its own.

The Faint's last release, 2000's Blank-Wave Arcade (Saddle Creek) was an album of catchy, overwhelmingly danceable songs about lust, sex, and of course, dancing. And their forthcoming album, Danse Macabre (out August 20th on Saddle Creek) expects to be more of the same. The Faint, however, is really known as an astounding and outstanding live act. They, without fail, attempt to extinguish all the house lights and play under just strobe and red lights that are part of their stage gear. And all the members of The Faint, adorned in black, dance to the funky, angular grooves of their own sonic creations. But, it is lead singer Todd Baechle, often made up with excessive amounts of dark eyeliner, who proves to be the most compelling as he flails about like a maniac in need of a straight jacket.

Brownies and Sound and Fury present The Faint for two nights this weekend. Saturday, June 9th is a 21 and older show with openers The Ex Models and Interpol, while Sunday, June 10th is a 16 and over show where the band will be joined by 90 Day Men, Outhud, and Radio 4.

Bring your dancing shoes and some water to the show, because if you're not ready to dance to the manic sounds of the Faint, you should not bother going.