Whimsical and moody, but not that gothic.

Looking at these three girls on the cover of their album (and the two shadowy, deadly-dull string-pulling guys on the inside) you'd never think that something so chock-full of bubblegum Brooklyn attitood could produce the smart, sexy sound that is this marvellous track.

It's class in a glass. Sidestepping the cuteness factor and packaged cool (both of which, to their credit, they also do very well) of other tracks on the album, So Stylistic bombs along with a real old-skool hip-hop feel. This is balanced nicely by more than a smattering of electropop and gratuitous use of the vocoder, making it seem relentlessly contemporary. This is a band so up-to-date that they don't bother sampling any of that old jazz or funk nonsense, but go straight for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (on Things, another album highlight).

A rare example of a band manufactured down to the last pendant and all the better for it.

arguably one of my favorite faint songs. but they're all good. the faint is all about the eighties synth-pop aesthetic, but they reach out of that style enough to keep it interesting. a lot of their stuff, this song in particular, shows this keen sense of being able to combine the dark("macabre" even, if you will.) synth/drum machine sound and equally dark lyrics with catchy riffs in a way that keeps the pessimistic, shadowy side bubbling at the surface. kinda reminds me of joy division, not so much in the style (even though there are some points where the two sound similar) but in the general tone. 'the conductor' is all about the atmospheric key board drones and 'plunk' sounds, plus the vocoder thing they use on the vocals.

Songwriter Steve Wynn, the former Dream Syndicate frontman, has been on a tear since 1996 when he offered Melting in the Dark. Since then, his records have featured howling, wailing rock & roll and deep, dark acoustic reflections � all of them bearing his trademark noir-ish lyrics that offer the shadowy side of life, love, and violence. He's employed a variety of musicians, and they've always sounded like hired guns. On ...Tick...Tick...Tick he's got himself a real band. They're all younger than he is, and they have the hunger it takes to really execute Wynn's unique songs. Start with drummer Linda Pitmon, who acts as co-producer (along with Wynn and Craig Schumacher) on these sides. Add to this the fact that the entire band (including Dave DeCastro on bass and guitarist Jason Victor) plots the arrangements.

"Turning of the Tide," is the mirror image, with the refrain stating "Don't be afraid/It's just the turning of the tide." Here again, guitars climb astride one another and begin ringing, jangling in heated dialogue to underscore the words as Pitmon's in-the-pocket drumming urges them forward.
(AMG)