Th' Faith Healers

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Notwithstanding the fact that there are numerous underrated and "lost" bands from any period, I always thought these guys were destined for...well, greatness of a sort. I still have all their stuff (and along with Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, Prolapse and Drive Like Jehu) I feel I have some cruelly forgotten 90s gems. Anyone care to differ?

― paulhw (paulhw), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 03:28 (twenty-one years ago)

No. They were good. They were also on the same label as Stereolab and not quite as catch-y or clever. Of the other three bands you mention I only like Drive Like Jehu (who were fucking amazing) and were not forgotten at all.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 03:33 (twenty-one years ago)

they had some nice sounds but shoutiness is rarely next to godliness. "oh my loser" is the song that comes to mind as encapsulating everything both great and bad about them.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 03:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought they had a great sound, and never really received the recognition they deserved.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 03:40 (twenty-one years ago)

i really liked their cover of "mother sky" but the rest of that album never did much more for me.

― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 03:42 (twenty-one years ago)

One of my favorite bands from the period and totally ignored. Their early tracks weren't very interesting, but by the time they recorded "Lido," they had latched onto something very unique for a time when everyone sounded like MBV. Of course, "everything, all at one, forever" was unforgettable.

― direct_program, Wednesday, 10 March 2004 03:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Only ever owned Beautiful Friend, but yeah, I used to like it quite a bit, esp. Heart Fog.

― maypang (maypang), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 03:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought they had a great sound, and never really received the recognition they deserved.

El Diablo sez it all. Got to interview them face to face back in 1993 or so -- good people all, friendly folk. Never saw them live but apparently opening for the Breeders in 1994 they were fantastic.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 03:56 (twenty-one years ago)

i loved everything on too pure then, i used to play 'imaginary friend' nearly every day for a short period, but then i never listen to them now. i liked them as quickspace supersport and for a brief time when they dropped the supersport too but now he's mostly a drag.

― keith m (keithmcl), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 03:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I've said this before - they were the loudest band I've ever seen in a club (saw 'em at the Lounge Ax in Chicago around the time of the first record)(loudest arena show - AC/DC at the Toledo Sports Arena in '88 or '89). It was just obscenely loud, like they were trying to bludgeon the crowd.

I really liked Lido - I pulled it out last year in fact, which is more than I can say for a lot of records from that era - but I never bought, nor do I really remember even hearing, the second record. Funny how that happens sometimes.

― Broheems (diamond), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 05:04 (twenty-one years ago)

They are tangentially somewhat old acquaintances friends of friends of mine. Nice people, really.

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 05:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Rough start, but Lido's matte cover and red tray were a flashing BUY ME sign to the pre-ilxor generation. "Don't Jones Me" deserves a place on a number of "you may have missed..." compilations and "Mother Sky" is one of my favorite covers. Bit of a jam band, though - x-over wasn't in the cards.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 12:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Stupid decision re: "Th'"

― Mr Mime (Andrew Thames), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 12:43 (twenty-one years ago)

oh BOY these guys were good. OK not all their songs were great songs but "reptile smile", "delores", "everything all at once forever" are 3 of my all time favourites. just that fat rubbery bottom end wobble and the shuffling slightly jazzbo drums . hippy hole and moona inna joona do annoy the fuck out of me tho. and "slag" is ace it beat electric wizard into a cocked hat that's for sure.

― bob snoom, Wednesday, 10 March 2004 13:15 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember hearing them for the first time in a crowded bar in NYC when someone played "This Time" and fighting my way to the jukebox to find out what it was. Their albums were a bit hit-and-miss for me, but the tracks I liked I really liked ("Reptile Smile", "Don't Jones Me", "Spin 1/2", "Heart Fog", etc.). One of those bands I always feel like I'm one of the only people who ever got into (until I see them pop up here).

― rainman (rainman), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 13:33 (twenty-one years ago)

"It's Easy Being You" proved a creepy precursor to Sleeper.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 13:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Brilliant band. Both their albums are 4-star affairs.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 13:52 (twenty-one years ago)

they are awesome. so is quickspace. imma listen to th' faith healers when i get home from work today.

― cutty (mcutt), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 14:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Saw them a couple of times.
Great live band, nice people.
Tom guitar always looked like it was going fall apart.

― Russ, Wednesday, 10 March 2004 15:11 (twenty-one years ago)

"It's Easy Being You" proved a creepy precursor to Sleeper.

Was this a compliment?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 15:25 (twenty-one years ago)

groovy bar band
too bad they were hippies

― SexyDancer, Wednesday, 10 March 2004 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

"Tom'S guitar always looked like it was going TO fall apart."

― Russ, Wednesday, 10 March 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

groovy bar band
yeah, this is a good point. i always thought of them as an minimalist bar band. kind of like if phil niblock played guitar in a band at that shitty place down the street where they expected rick springfield covers in your repertoire.

― direct_program, Wednesday, 10 March 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Lido blew me away when it came out. I lost my copy in a move, rebought it last year and it wasn't the same...I think the Too Pure Stereolab stuff aged a bit better.

The second album, meh. They could have been a good singles/ep band.

― ddb, Wednesday, 10 March 2004 16:41 (twenty-one years ago)

"Moona Ina Joona" from Lido remains, to this day, one of my favorite uptempo indie driving songs from the 90s. The rest of the album is sort of...meh. Never heard Imaginary Friend at all.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 16:53 (twenty-one years ago)

a man in a faith healers t-shirt knocked my pint over in a busy central london pub on fri. nothing strange or interesting about that, except an hour earlier I'd spotted Joe Dilworth in another pub I'd been in. spooky

― smudger (smudger), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 17:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I saw them a couple of times by accident (they were supporting
other groups I'd gone to see) with Lush in 1990 and Moonshake in
1991. It sounded good at the time, but (totally coincidentally) I
was listening to Lido a couple of weeks ago and I don't think it's
really aged very well. I didn't even know they'd made a second album.
Their thunder kind of got stolen by Silverfish. Who were rubbish.

― Jamie Fake (the pirate king), Wednesday, 10 March 2004 18:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Nobody's mentioned Gorgeous Blue Flower yet, so I'm going to do it. Stunning rhythm section, I still listen to both albums (and the singles collection L') a lot.

― Andrew Norman, Wednesday, 10 March 2004 21:20 (twenty-one years ago)

one year passes...

Revive!

So what about those Peel Sessions? They sound pretty great! I miss this band. They were great live, too.

― TRG (TRG), Thursday, 12 January 2006 01:47 (twenty years ago)

I've only heard the Peel Session featured on the Too Pure Peel Sessions disc, and with the exception of "Jesus Freak" (which is totally mad), the songs aren't as strong as those on their albums. How many Peel Sessions did they do?

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 12 January 2006 02:40 (twenty years ago)

I've been gradually reevaluating this band ... at the time, I thought "Imaginary Friend" blew everything they'd done out of the water. These days, that album gets more and more bland each time I listen to it as I resist the urge to skip ahead to the last two tracks once "Sparklingly Chime" is over. "Lido" is the true classic, I wish they'd remaster it though.

― NoTimeBeforeTime (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 12 January 2006 02:43 (twenty years ago)

I believe they did 5 sessions altogether, and these are the other 4. I agree, I think Lido > Imaginary Friend, which I haven't listened to in ages now. Yeah "Jesus Freak" is pretty crazy (for them)!!

― TRG (TRG), Thursday, 12 January 2006 02:59 (twenty years ago)

I spent an inordinate amount of time listening to Lido when it came out. Lots of great memories. I was pretty big on the Too Pure label, and I think I eventually cast them aside in light of the early Stereolab, PJ Harvey and Moonshake records.

I think they were largely responsible for getting me to hunt down Can records in the early 90s.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Thursday, 12 January 2006 03:08 (twenty years ago)

Quickspace played on my WFMU show in 2000 and were stunning. You can hear the archive here: http://www.wfmu.org/Playlists/Douglas/dw.001228.html

― Douglas (Douglas), Thursday, 12 January 2006 03:09 (twenty years ago)

I never paid attention to Quickspace - probably an oversight on my part. Worth seeking out? What in particular?

The Ba Da Bing website says there's the real possibility that 2006 will bring some reunion shows. Hmmm, I bet they'd still be really good live. Listening to these Peel Sessions has me excited about that possibility.

― TRG (TRG), Thursday, 12 January 2006 14:38 (twenty years ago)

Great band that's aged really well. Quickspace too.

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Thursday, 12 January 2006 14:47 (twenty years ago)

Liked Lido and still play it maybe once a year, but "Everything, All At Once, Forever" was extremely disappointing - repetitious/boring rather than repetitious/hypnotic, same as every Spacemen 3 release I ever heard, for example. (But I guess that's just a matter of opinion - some people find "Sister Ray" and "Chasin' The Trane" boring. Whatever. Me I'm too impatient with long stretches of music which require a microscope to detect any sonic variety. My loss.)

As for the their silly truncated name, it was suggested in print at least once that their 'e' was stolen by Thee Hypnotics.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Thursday, 12 January 2006 15:15 (twenty years ago)

i loved Quickspace live, they sounded like a giant machine being cranked up & set running - the singers stood a couple of feet away from the mikes & sort of half sang half screamed. the records were always a bit disappointing though, i think they recorded most everything themselves cheaply and consequently were always a bit rough around the edges - i mean i like lofi but they were the sort of band that would have benefited from a much bigger production. "precious mountain" 12" is probably a good place to start.

― zappi (joni), Thursday, 12 January 2006 15:24 (twenty years ago)

"There is no God in my heart. There's not a god, there's not a god, in my heart."

― Pete Scholtes (Pete Scholtes), Thursday, 12 January 2006 16:03 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

Th'Faith Healers are scheduled to play the SXSW Festival sometime between March 13-17 in Austin Texas. I can't WAIT!!

― Mark, Tuesday, 31 January 2006 07:17 (twenty years ago)

I saw them smoke Superchunk back in 1993 on Miami Beach. Not a lot of songs, but a nice wall of sound.

Still, not even close to being the loudest band I;ve seen. The club version of that is either Jucifer or high on fire - perhaps the only band that's ever driven me out of a club just due to volume. I had plugs in and they didn't do a damn thing!

― Uncle Tom (Uncle Tom), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 07:48 (twenty years ago)

They're playing SXSW and the tiny P.A.'s Lounge in Somerville, Mass (March 22). I can't wait for the latter - it's in my neighborhood. One of my favorite shows was th' Faithhealers at TT's in Cambridge, MA about 12 or 13 years ago. They must be doing a few more dates than this, but I can't find any.

― - stefan (- stefan), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 21:09 (twenty years ago)

Wait, so they've fully reunited?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 21:10 (twenty years ago)

And what happens to Quickspace?

― wmlynch (wlynch), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 21:30 (twenty years ago)

Looks like there's a tour booked. They're playing two dates in NYC.

― TRG (TRG), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 22:07 (twenty years ago)

this is excellent news. hope for some shows in the uk.

as for quickspace, as i'm culling from on http://homepage.univie.ac.at/horst.prillinger/healers/qsbio.html - tom disbanded quickspace after "in a field of nymphs" single and reformed with a new band and roxanne from th' faith healers on vox, which i'd not heard about. i was unfortunate enough to see a show with this lineup in 2003, which was almost the polar opposite of what i was expecting. a collection of forgettable and disappointing 4 minute songs with "happy song #2" thrown in. roxanne sounded terrible with the given material and twas one of the most disappointing 30 minutes of my life - perhaps it'd have been better if i hadnt been expecting the old lineup that would think nothing of spending the entire 1.5 hour set playing a version of "the precious mountain"

then they released the pissed off boy/arse is on fire 7" which the press release stated was the last ever quickspace single, and it's probably just as well that the rumoured album to follow never saw the light of day.

seems like tom just got bored with the style of stuff he did so well before and tried change to doing poor 3-minute pistols impressions with very very little success. so am ecstatic he's decided to go back to th' faith healers.

― mark h (mark h), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 22:13 (twenty years ago)

Ah, see I'd heard that there was an album coming soon, but not that they'd ever split. The last couple singles were rather dismal.

― wmlynch (wlynch), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 00:43 (twenty years ago)

Where you readin th' news TRG?

― Dave will do (dave225.3), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 00:49 (twenty years ago)

One show is booked for Mercury Lounge, says the calendar.

― Reggie, Wednesday, 1 February 2006 01:09 (twenty years ago)

from what id heard, the final quickspace 7" with the roxanne lineup was pressed as a favour by domino after all the franz ferdinand money had come in. i'm assuming they had more songs ready to go, possibly an albums worth, because the show i saw was all new songs. but they were all frankly dire - i'd like to think, although i have no proof, that the album was scrapped for that reason.

― mark h (mark h), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 01:28 (twenty years ago)

There's also a show booked for 3/27 at Northsix. I only found th' NYC dates because I looked at th' venue's websites. However, I couldn't find tour info anywhere -- doesn't look like Ba Da Bing has updates their site which is where I assume th' info will be posted.

― TRG (TRG), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 14:44 (twenty years ago)

It doesn't look like it's a full tour after all:

Saturday, March 11th - Berlin, Germany - West Germany (yes, that's the name of the club)
Friday, March 17th - Austin, TX SXSW Ba Da Bing!/Leaf Showcase at Blender Balcony At The Ritz (w/ volcano!, A Hawk and a Hacksaw, Colossal Yes and Beirut)
Wednesday, March 22nd Boston, MA - Pa's Lounge (w/Bright)
Monday, March 27th Brooklyn, NY - Northsix
Wednesday, March 29th New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
Thursday, March 30th Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber (w/The Nethers, The War On Drugs)

Tickets for all these shows (except Austin), are on sale now.

― TRG (TRG), Thursday, 2 February 2006 14:50 (twenty years ago)

and, thankfully the site says a london show is being arranged for early april as well.

― mark h (mark h), Thursday, 2 February 2006 14:55 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

So I'm planning to go see them tonight in Brooklyn (at Northsix). Has anyone else seen them on this tour? Will they be v. loud & hypnotic? I hope so.

― paulhw (paulhw), Monday, 27 March 2006 17:42 (nineteen years ago)

I went to the Somerville, MA show last week, and although they were a little unrehearsed, it was an excellent show. Not quite on par with the gig I saw in 1992 (a personal Top Ten show), but that's not at all surprising. The best $10 I've spent in a long, long time!

I recorded the show and it's up on dimeadozen:
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=88639

setlist:
01. This Time
02. Curly Lips
03. Moona Inna Joona
04. Bulkhead (false start)
05. Bulkhead
06. Get the Fuck Out of My Face
07. Don't Jones Me
08. Hippy Hole
09. It's Easy Being You
10. Heart Fog (false start)
11. Heart Fog
12. Spin 1/2
-- 10 minute ciggy break --
13. welcome back
14. Love Song
15. Ooh La La
16. Reptile Smile
17. Mother Sky

― - stefan (- stefan), Monday, 27 March 2006 17:49 (nineteen years ago)

I'm seeing them Wed and am pretty excited. All the feedback I've heard so far about the recent shows is very positive.

― TRG (TRG), Monday, 27 March 2006 17:53 (nineteen years ago)

Crappers! Dimeadozen isn't taking new accounts right now.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Monday, 27 March 2006 17:56 (nineteen years ago)

They purge inactive accounts at midnight GMT nightly. Keep trying!

― - stefan (- stefan), Monday, 27 March 2006 17:58 (nineteen years ago)

Their live WFMU session is up:

www.wfmu.org/playlists/BT --- about 45 mins and pretty great mix.

― Brian Turner (btwfmu), Thursday, 30 March 2006 20:37 (nineteen years ago)

Hmm, Stefan, the torrent isn't yet working for me! I see you mentioned you had some connection problems.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 31 March 2006 15:49 (nineteen years ago)

Ah, never mind, it's off and running. :-)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 31 March 2006 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

cheers brian. that boris track was great too (in fact i've just ordered myself a copy of their cd from here: http://www.essence-music.com/releases/boris_ess005.htm)

― koogs (koogs), Friday, 31 March 2006 16:19 (nineteen years ago)

Listening to the wfmu set now - it's fantastic!

― mcd (mcd), Friday, 31 March 2006 17:31 (nineteen years ago)

Wed's show was great. I liked them more than I remember liking them live back in the early 90s, although that could be my mind playing tricks. I've also been listening to the Peel Sessions religiously. Great stuff.

― TRG (TRG), Friday, 31 March 2006 17:49 (nineteen years ago)

three years pass...

Glancing at that Too Pure poll just totally made me check these guys out on S*****y. Spin 1/2 is immense, yeah. Helps that I'm something of a Quickspace fan.

― BIG CHOO-CHOOS aka the steamtraindriver (country matters), Monday, 18 May 2009 14:58 (sixteen years ago)

they are/were awesome.

― cutty, Monday, 18 May 2009 15:01 (sixteen years ago)

"Imaginary Friend" got played pretty much every minute I was home and awake for a particularly low month or so in my life, and I STILL love it. I'm always a bit scared to pull it out bcz it seems like the effect could collapse after all these years and just seem dirgey, but no, still enveloping, still plenty of corners to explore.

Need to spend more time with Lido, cz I didn't get it until after IF, and was somehow too familiar with the other one to give it a chance.

Anyone who was at ATP this past weekend (I think - maybe it's next weekend) catch their reformed set? Never sure what to think of bands reforming.

― a passing spacecadet, Monday, 18 May 2009 15:24 (sixteen years ago)

I saw the ATP show. Wasn't familiar with them in any way beforehand, but I enjoyed it. Dude had a cool guitar sound.

― wu-tang clam ain't nothin to shuck wit' (gnarly sceptre), Monday, 18 May 2009 21:44 (sixteen years ago)

five years pass...

good times -- full live show!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke__0WaDscg

― La Lechera, Sunday, 8 June 2014 01:30 (eleven years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.