Recently, maybe at the CSS show last week, I said to a friend that you know we’re living in dark times because people are all nostalgic about the ‘00s. I’ve written about it here before, but that decade was not cute. Bleak is probably a better word to describe an era marked by wars, financial shenanigans and rising social conservatism. And, at least in comparison to other decades, there weren’t many musicians addressing the turmoil in their work. Amongst the few who did was The Faint.
Take, for example, “Paranoiattack,” from the band’s 2004 album Wet From Birth, is about war and media and propaganda and the fear that’s instilled in a society bombarded with dire headlines all day and all night. Even today, when I dropped the needle on my copy of Wet From Birth for the first time in years, I can tell you exactly why that was my favorite song on the album and my go-to for DJ sets at the time of the album’s release. “It sounded “Paranoiattack” sounds like a tightly wound ball of nerves ready to unravel, which is also how it felt to sit through flip through cable news channels at the time. I suppose that’s not so different from doomscrolling today, but, they lyrics might go over the heads of those who don’t recall headlines about wars and anthrax. You kind of had to be there.
But, there’s another song from The Faint’s Wet From Birth era that is perhaps more relevant now than when it was written. In fact, “Zealots” remained unreleased until this week, when the band dropped it as a prelude to the Wet From Birth reissue that’s coming in March.
In a press release, The Faint’s vocalist Todd Fink said, “This song came from a dream Jacob had (our late keyboard player). In the dream, people were chanting, “You will know we are zealots by our guns,”. The lyrics are about the paradox between Christianity’s core message of love and the obsession with guns among some of its followers.”
I don’t think I need to explain the many reasons why that sentiment is still applicable in 2025.
The “unrealized” version of “Zealots” is raw and instantly captivating. The vibe is altogether different from what’s on the very synth-punk Wet From Birth. Instead, the band taps into the post-punk-meets-post-disco sound of the late 1970s and early 1980s, which, at the time, was experiencing a resurgence in dance clubs and amongst record collectors. Listening now, I hear echoes of Talking Heads circa “I Zimbra” and George Kranz’s influential dance track “Din Daa Daa.” The song’s eerie refrain reminds me of Fun Boy Three, particularly “The Lunatics (Have Taken Over the Asylum,” partially for its sound, but mostly for its cutting social commentary.
If I had heard “Zealots” back in the day, I probably would have played the shit out of it. TBH, I can’t wait to play it out somewhere now.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs. Follow on Instagram for more updates.
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