Omaha, Nebraska put itself on the map thanks to auteur Alexander Payne basing several of his films there. Now the city is slowly turning into the new New York with a couple of bands emerging from the cornfields to make big names for themselves. The first to do so was the emo band Bright Eyes headed by Omaha native Conor Oberst. Now the electro-dance group The Faint has garnered quite a bit of notoriety, but it hasn’t been over-night success. The group officially formed in 1998 and released their first album that year, Media. The Faint’s second album, Blank-Wave Arcade showcased the band’s propinquity for 1980s pop/dance influences including the omnipresent use of keyboards. Then in 2001, the band released Danse Macabre, a darker, harder album full of electronic effects that veer into early Nine Inch Nails territory. After a three- year wait, The Faint release their fourth album, Wet from Birth where the band plateaus.
The most striking thing about the band is how British they sound. It’s obvious they reap influences from New Order, Blur, Clinic, Depeche Mode and ever so slightly the Sex Pistols. The first track is “Desperate Guys” that begins with a heavy string instrumentation then adds drums, sound effects, lead singer’s Todd Baechle
