Faker

Faker front man Nathan Hudson is a picturesque indie rocker with his frivolous curls, slight form and scruffy appearance, despite a shirt and tie ensemble. All eyes are in the enigmatic singer who spends the night walking in circles, and climbing and leaping off railing and amps to burn excess energy. Every song from new, (Love For Sale) to old (Teenage Werewolf) is greeted with excitement, followed by fist pumping, followed by pogoing and even moshing toward the end. Just when the room starts to overload with testosterone, a crew of girls invade the stage for a Hurricane dance frenzy. An edgy cover of the Talking Heads Psycho Killer ends the party on a high. You have to hand it to these Sydney lads, they know how to rock a crowd with their indie guitar sounds and pop precision. - Rave Magazine

We've seen them be the support act several times over the past couple of years, they are mentioned regularly on the pages of the local street press and they've been making a bit of a noise across the airwaves. Their debut album 'Addicted Romantic' has been a pretty rockin' contribution to our playlists and we often catch ourselves mumbling the lyrics while sitting on the bus on the way to work. We knew we liked Faker. I just didn't know how much. It's a lot.

The first hint of our fondess towards the band is the queue outside Sydney's renowned live music venue, The Metro. it doesn't take long to establish that the gig is sold out. The place is swarming with punters. Hardcore fans that have gathered at the front of the stage are already struggling to keep their feet on the floor. It's difficult to find a position where one can see the stage and also have to trek to the bar. It's going to be a big night.

The band blasts on stage like 5 year olds who have had too much sugar. This pace sets the tone for the rest of the show. Our prayers that the band will perform with the same amount of energy that their album radiates are answered. The track 'Bodies', an ode to casual sex, demonstrates the difference between listening to Faker and seeing them play live. We've heard the track many times, but never with this raw edge. Forget the album, this is the real thing.

Over the next hour and a bit, every expectation we had of the band will be exceeded. the boys tear through favourites which as 'Hurricane' and 'Teenage Werewolf' and we feel our bodies jerking along enthusiastically with the rest of them. Lead singer Nathan Hudson plays the role of the rock star rather well - he oozes charisma. The first chords of their latest single, 'Love for Sale' receive huge cheers from the crowd and Hudson reciprocates the love by pulling a girl up from the front row onto stage but then he doesn't know what to do with her. He continues to strut about as she stands there uneasily, then politely makes her way back into the audience. It's an awkward moment. But we forgive him.

The brooding pop melodies continue with 'Kids on Overload' and 'Seizures' and the place is absolutely buzzing. Hudson and his band mates appear to be having the time of their lives by the end of the gig. As the last notes of 'Quarter to Three' are played; half the crowd seems to be on the stage. Andf they look like they are having a grand time; they are dancing amongst the band and exchanging embraces. One leaves with the impression that the boys from Faker were just as excited about tonight's gig as we were. Faker have arrived. And they know it. - FasterLouder.com.au

Sydney's Faker make most people's night; banging out a set full of catchy pop-rock, sing-a-longs including 'Teenage Werewolf' 'Kids on Overload' and the current single 'Hurricane' (with its ridiculously hypnotic ooh-la-la-la chorus). Frontman Nathan Hudson is in a romantic rockstar state of mind tonight, throwing himself to the ground with gay abandon and dramatically dragging himself across the stage like his legs have been blown off by a land-mine. The band play a tight set, but for those who aren't in love with The Cure, the Robert Smith whine and stage antics get old. For encore, they treat the crowd to a cover of the Talking Heads 'Psycho Killer', which is closely followed by the clapping of hands and the screaming and so forth from their adoring fans. - The Brag

Sydney group finally release debut album.

Coming four years after their early singles, Addicted Romantic has been a long time in the making. If it had been released in 2001, it would be the very definition of before its time; Faker's new romantic throw back style is so in vogue right now that it almost makes the band's debut album a late arrival. Where others are doing it with big hooks and catchy songs, the Sydney quintet go for something more long asting, from moody 'Bodies' to the hyper pulse of 'Quarter to Three' and 'Hurricane' and the Smiths-like paeans 'Love For Sale'. There's a maturity on Addicted Romantic that's missing from other New Wavers; a song like the edgy 'Fucking the Exhibits' is the type of track the Bravery would love to have as their own. - Rolling Stone

Faker have been rightly touted by many as 'could be' since their debut EP Sound Out Loud and the single 'Kids on Overload', both released in 2001. Four years is a long time between drinks. But the Sydney five peice have used that downtime wisely, releasing a debut album where that 'could be', should be followed by huge.

Faker first gained attention through their live performance. Centred around enigmatic figure of frontman Nathan Hudson, their gigs walk the line of the chaotically bright to brooding introvert.

It's something that initially seems to have eluded them on Addicted Romantic. but once you settle into the album, forgetting the often calamitous edge of a Faker live show, you realise that Lindsay Gravina's sharp and warm production is perfectly suited to Faker's pop/rock.

Open Bodies is jagged jangle rising into the dirty punch of the chorus. Quarter to Three rides a shimering to subdued verse. Its rolling progression to thumping rhythm heading into the tastiest lick of the lead. Love For Sale - a resigned take on plaintive pop.

Of course The Cure comparisons continue. Which is fair comment, particularly on Volumes with its wet bass/ sparsely spaced guitars, and the Robert Smith on amphetamines drive of Enough. But to sugges that Faer are bothing but a pillaging pop act is a failure to look beyond their obvioius UK influence.

Yes Addicted Romantic is drenched in 80s Pommy pop. But with the jerking scruffiness of Kids on Overload, the manic bite of Fucking The Exhibits, the tentative creep this is Teenage Werewolf and near sublime Seizures, Faker can comfortably call this sound their own.

Addicted Romantic is a stunning debut. Nathan Hudson may have had seizures by the seaside in the past. Hopefully he and his band will be just as comfortable on the coarser sands of Britain's beaches. Beccause that is where they should and will be heading. Faker? Could be? It'll be a sleepwalk. - The Drum Media Sydney