Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.

iTunes Review

Faunts refine their contemporary synth-pop sound on their second full-length release, texturizing it with a vaporous sheen of shoegazer haze, while sculpting the songs into more cohesive wholes. Founded by brothers Steven and Tim Batke (both on guitars and vocals, while Tim also plays keyboards), Faunts added another sibling, Rob Batke, to the mix with additional keyboards and laptop wizardry. “It Hurts Me All The Time” opens with an irresistible dance beat and wending synth notes, worthy of the best Cure club hit. The winsome line, “It hurts me all the time,” is repeated in little more than a whisper over a warm, bouncy bass line and perky beats, working up to “yeah, it kills me all the time,” without changing tone. Elsewhere, the juxtaposition of a dance beat and such moody vocalizing — wrapped in cool reverb — carries the ethereal punch of early New Order, while sounding inarguably new and original. “Out On A Limb” has see-sawing guitars, shakers, handclaps, and bongos, and yet the distant sparkle of a glockenspiel and faint fluttering of a flute lends the tune an unmistakable sadness. Other standouts abound, including the Krautrock-lite of “Das Malefitz,” the ambient “So Far Away,” and the languorous pop of the opening and closing tracks.