| Artist |
| FAQ |
| Title |
| Is Pornography Art? |
| Format/Cat |
| CD |
| Label |
| Synthetic Product Records |
| Style |
| Synthpop |
| Date of review |
| 10th December 2007 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 8/10 |
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So is pornography art? Of course it is, the kind of art you enjoy with one hand! Actually, you could be forgiven for thinking the only reason this Swiss quartet gave their album such a title is so that they could put loads of pictures of Jenna Jameson on the cover; this is, of course, great news for those who like plastic barbie dolls (personally I think multi-instrumentalist & vocalist Mary Santella beats her hands down looks-wise but maybe that's just me). And don't let the fact that 'Heartbreaker' apparently 'features' Jenna fool you, not when her contribution amounts to no more than some spoken footage taken from a DVD & neither this nor the electroclash remix (which I did have some hopes for) are even anywhere near the best that this fine album has to offer. That privilege belongs to the excellent 'Minor' which is an utterly superb piece of 'future pop' (the band are usually labelled as synthpop but this is a more accurate description, I'd say) that easily equals anything the established leaders in the field have ever achieved & deserves to be utterly massive. Mary's vocals add extra verve to the instantly infectious & captivating backing while Philip Noirjean's vocals are well able to embellish the music's dynamic qualities. And while this is the standout piece by some margin there's still plenty more to enjoy here, not least the slower 'We Come In Pieces' which is a duet with Apop's Stephan Groth & which benefits from a nicely full sound with a chorus that reminds me slightly of Blutengel, strangely enough, while Pille's guitar adding an additionally majestic edge. Actually the importance of Pille's contribution should not be underestimated as his contribution adds extra grit to a number of tracks, not least 'Second Skin', the more freeform feel of which should go down a storm in the clubs & again on the superb 'Hyde Park' while 'How To Make Love Like' eventually reveals its true robust colours as a robust piece with the strong rhythms supporting the accessable & melodic vocals. The romantic feel of 'The Man Next To Me' provides a striking contrast via an expert combination of piano, strings & voice. In some ways, FAQ come across almost as a poppier version of Pride & Fall, albeit with a far less melancolic sound for the most part & their potential appeal is very wide indeed so enjoy the eye candy if you must but a far better bet is to concentrate on the superb music on this fine album, it's well worth it!
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