Faraquet.

Faraquet es una banda que dentro de las muchas etiquetas existentes, ha sido encasillada dentro de la especie del rock matemático (a.k.a math-rock). Lamentablemente esta agrupación, nacida en la cuna de la excelencia rockera moderna (Washington, DC), se encuentra disuelta. Cabe señalar que su período de vigencia musical fue bastante corto, durando desde el año 1997 hasta el 2001.

En cuanto a sus trabajos, encontramos dos 7" (Mis En Scene Records y DeSoto Records), un EP (Split con Akarso, 404 Records), un LP "The View from this Tower" y un compilado de varios artistas (Dischord Records; ¡oh, sí!).

Picture credits: 1000pounds

Pero ahora... ¿Quiénes son Faraquet? ¡Buena pregunta! Estos chicos verdaderamente "se las traen", y esto porque Faraquet no es el único proyecto de Jeff Boswell y Devin Ocampo, miembros de Smart Went Crazy, sino que comienza como banda paralela, y no es hasta que SWC fenece cuando recién Faraquet se convierte en un grupo estable de tres miembros (sí, faltó Chad Molter, que se unió gracias a su amistad escolar con Devin). Pero bueno, eso es el comienzo, y durante los años de vida de la banda hicieron muy buen rock, siendo rápidamente reconocidos, e incluso invitados a tocar junto con los mismísimos chicos de Fugazi.
En el 2003, dos años después de haberse separado, los miembros Devin y Chad se van a Medications. Posteriormente, en el 2004, la banda Beauty Pill suspende sus actividades, período en el cual uno de sus miembros (Bryan Nelson) decide abandonar la banda, siendo reemplazado entonces por Devin y Chad de Medications.

Picture credits: 1000pounds

¿Por qué "Faraquet"? / Why "Faraquet"?
There is nothing like a deadline to motivate people and there is no better deadline for a new band than its first show. our drummer Chad wanted to call us Nacho but Devin and I had other, more complicated ideas. our name must be original and must mean nothing other than our band/music. after giving it about 30 seconds of thought, I tentatively announced the word faraquet (pronounced fair-a-ket). we've been paying for the name ever since. our name has to be among the most misspelled and mispronounced names in music today. we're not particularly proud of this fact though it is far too late to change anything. we've played venues who have advertised us as power cat, Faraquat, satoquet, faroquet, j. robbins at first called us bear cat, and one guy in Oregon even thought we were called farret head..... (Name Game)

Faraquet - The View From This Tower Label: Dischord

Fusing together the musical complication and ingenuity of King Crimson with the ferocity and D.C.-sound of Fugazi, interlaced with a bit of the flare of the later Police, Faraquet emerge, creating an album of technical, churning, and passionate frenzies collapsed into melodically pleasing atrophy. After several smaller releases of 7" singles and four songs on a split single with the choppy, quirk-filled Akarso, the band moved to Dischord for the release of their first full-length, The View From This Tower. Any and all excitement created by those previous releases, or the smattering of incredible live appearances (including a stint with Fugazi and All Scars on their brief winter 1999 east coast tour) could not have been quelled in a more breathtaking way with these ten songs- all overflowing with rhythmic melody, well timed and trained percussion and perfectly placed vocals, executed with inarguable musical finesse. This is without a doubt one of the best debut full-length albums to be released in quite some time. Moronic, short-sighted critics should stop philosophizing on the supposed themes and genius of the art-rock wannabe pseudo-intellectual-"masterpiece" called 'Kid A' and start paying attention to something that REALLY moves. Praise the lord for Dischord. (Deadwinter Reviews)

Faraquet/Akarso - split LP Label: 404 Records (Lado de Faraquet / Faraquet's side)

This split LP features 4 songs from each band-Faraquet : Meld quirky, moving jazzish textures and sounds with the intensity and energy of the Washington DC sound and you have somewhat established the feel of Faraquet. A tight and relentless rhythm section laid over with complex and beautiful guitar work as well as soothing melodic vocals. Note for note, Faraquet offers something awe-inspiring as well as moving, coming from a direction that few bands are able to pull of with such precision. To add a bit of credibility to the musicians in the band, it should be noted that two-thirds of Faraquet were a part of the incredible Dischord band Smart Went Crazy. Performing live, Faraquet is just as inventine, and even more dynamic. As a young band, they will definitely be something to watch grow into the future, as a full length album is supposedly in the works for a release in 2000. Akarso : Choppy and aggressive tides of movement transforming themselves over and again amidst a dark feeling mood. Teeth-bared vocals highly reminiscent of Steve Albini (Big Black/Rapeman/Shellac) that fit very well into the complex and somewhat scattered yet deadly focused mood. The sound continues to shapeshift as it progresses in each song, ranging from broken and minimalistic, to spastic and metallic, to start/stop rhythym progressions, to flowing and beautiful, and on into many other interesting places. Although they differ greatly from Faraquet, the combination of the two bands fits very well together, offering two different tastes yet maintaining some form of commonality. This is definitely a release that fans of "indie rock" should add to their collection. (Deadwinter Reviews)