The Faint

From their beginnings as a low-fi pop band releasing cassettes to the release of their highly anticipated, electronically charged new Danse Macabre album, The Faint have always been a band which is in constant evolution. The Faint are from the currently thriving Omaha music scene. Featuring current members Todd Baechle (vocals, synthesizer), Clark Baechle (drums), and Joel Petersen (bass) they began by opening coffee house shows for various singer songwriters in 1994, utilizing an off-beat hodgepodge of folk and lo-fi. Performing under the name Norman Bailer, the original line-up featured standard rock instruments as well as some effected keyboard and vocal leads. They released this material on a now out-of-print cassette on Saddle Creek (then called Lumberjack) records. By the end of 1995, the band's sound had changed and a 7" compilation, Music Me All Over, was released featuring a surprising offshoot from the indie-folk noise the band had previously crafted. As the band has always been one which reacts against its surroundings, the light rock ballad track they contributed to the project was a natural reaction to the indie-pop and mathrock, with it's tricky timings and barely audible screaming vocals, that surrounded them. The band sought to make music that sounded fresh in the midst of all of this. "Light rock" was certainly unfashionable and seemed to be the answer. The untitled song was the only song released during 1995-1996.