Faker - Addicted Romantic

Tue 28th Jun, 2005 in Music Reviews

If you’ve been anywhere near a radio over the past couple of months, you’ll know the hooks. “This is the way we go!” sings Faker frontman Nathan Hudson during Quarter to Three. It’s hard not to sing along. The chorus of The Familiar (...and I can’t wait/To see your face) is just as good. It’s about as catchy as Chlamydia in Paris Hilton’s bedroom.

From the two hook-heavy singles, there’s no doubt Faker have potential coming out of their ears, but the problem with debut album Addicted Romantic is that there are ten other tracks that aren’t quite as good. They’re all rock and mirror the style and swagger of the band’s 1980s influences, but with all that style and potential, the songs on this record should stand out so much more.

We know Faker can write some catchy tunes and they definitely know a good hook when they see one. On opener Bodies, it’s the opening line (“I slept with your best friend”) and the edgy verse riff. On Fucking the Exhibits it’s the way the guitars build up to the line “I’m a live wire of electricity”. And then there’s all the do do dos on Enough and the ooh-lalalas on Hurricane. You get the idea.

With so many hooks on Addicted Romantic, it’s quite surprising that half of the tracks fail to register. The members of Faker seem so proud of their catchy riffs, licks and lyrics that they milk the hook for all it’s worth. And then some. The first time it hits you, you smile. The second time it comes it’s good, but not quite as good as it was the first time. The third, fourth and fifth times you hear it, your brain switches off. With a bit of modesty, Faker could have spread their ideas out a bit more and made a much more effective debut.

With the not-so-great tracks blending into each other, some might say the album is smooth and seamless. At some level they’d be right. There’s always a fine line though between a seamless album and one on which all the tracks sound the same, and Addicted Romantic treads that line. The songs on the album flow fairly well from one to another and there are no bad songs here – there’s just a few too many that lack character.

Considering it’s a debut album though, Addicted Romantic is a great effort. It’s definitely passable and even without the two hit singles, there’s enough to make it a worthwhile addition to your collection.