Source: Album Artwork
Norfolks very own Faintest Idea have a few things to say to the politicians and our government and that’s exactly what they have gone about doing with their latest album Increasing The Minimum Rage. The bands sound is very much ska. However, they’ve also added some pretty heavy punk and rock influences to create this really cool, a little bit chaotic, and very energetic ska-punk fusion sound.
The album features eleven tracks, all of which have a political message and are all upbeat, bouncy, energetic songs. If you can imagine it, they kind of have you dancing along and nodding your head to the beat while also having deep thoughts about the ‘bigger picture’ and issues that the band addresses.
It’s not your typical ska punk sound, though. Some tracks, such as the opener, ‘Circling The Drain’, create a weird sense of dark, forebodingness while also sounding very upbeat and almost reggae-ish. Other tracks, like ‘The Well Has Run Dry’, are actually just really quite heavy. There’s a metal feel in places such as during parts of ‘Corporation’ as well as a sound that is reminiscent of bands such as Madness in other places.
It really is more than what we were expecting when we heard we were going to be listening to a ska punk album, and that’s, obviously, a very good thing. At first, we thought the album might be a bit gimmicky, which is often the case with ska after a just a few songs. This isn’t the case with Faintest Idea. Their sound goes much deeper than just a few horns and trumpets being added to a rock band set up. It’s dark, it’s fun, it’s diverse. There is, however, something that, after a few songs, grinds with us… and that is the vocal part. It’s like an angry rudeboy losing his cool during a heated argument, which is not a problem necessarily. However, having the same style through every single song on the album does start to get old. We understand that it fits the politically motivated style of the band but it does sometimes take away from the truly brilliant music as a whole.
Nevertheless, Faintest Idea have really impressed. They’ve got us thinking about the state of the world. They’ve got us dancing to horns and bouncing to energetic choruses, and they’ve got us air-saxophone soloing around the rooms. Increasing The Minimum Rage, although sometimes a bit much, is full of energy and rage, and really does get the message across.
