Before The Faint could build anything, the band had to demolish a few things. The Omaha quintet has always been perceived as a series of paradoxes: Nebraskans trafficking in electro-pop anthems; a five-person outfit who insist on songwriting democracy; punk rockers laying down their guitars for a decidedly untypical kind of punk rock. They’ve contended with external expectations and lazy classifications, a four-year-break since their last album, Wet From Birth, and the task of converting their fascinations into songs, all while sloughing off past layers that didn’t quite fit. With Fasciinatiion, The Faint’s fifth album, the band gives the world the most real representation of the band to date, but in doing so, walls were literally and figuratively taken down. It also just so happens that the purest album the band has made is also their best; written, recorded, produced, art directed and released entirely on their own via their newly-formed label, blank.wav, Fasciinatiion is imbued equally with the musical instincts and perspectives of each band member. “It’s all The Faint,” lead singer Todd Fink (nee Baechle) explains. “There’s no outside anything. It’s exactly what five people in The Faint could agree on. Or come close.”