The Sound The Faint have been placed in many genres, including electroclash, discopunk, rock, pop, dance and many others in between. None of this really means anything though. A more satisfying description is, “80s-influenced electronic music with the urgency of punk and the dynamics of rock.” Although their sound has changed greatly over the last nine years, it is easy to see that they have not forgotten any of the lessons they learned in their various incarnations.

The Line-up The Faint’s current line-up comprises Todd Baechle (vocals, synthesizer), Clark Baechle (drums), and Joel Petersen (bass) and their most recent addition, Dapose, who joined on guitar in January 2001 following the break up of death metal band, Lead.

The History Originally known as Norman Bailer, the group formed in 1994 playing a mixture of folk and lo-fi. They earned their crust playing support slots in coffee bars around their home town of Omaha and were signed to Saddle Creek Records (then known as Lumberjack), only becoming The Faint in 1998 during the recording of their debut album, Media.

The songs from Media differed greatly, not only from The Faint’s previous sound, but also from each other. The styles ranged from dance to collaboration with an all acoustic folk ensemble. The subsequent US tour in support of this album focussed the band and made them settle upon the one direction they wanted to head in. Simply put, the band wanted more from the live experience; heavier dance beats, more synthesizers, and fewer guitars began to shape the new songs, which eventually formed their second album, Blank-Wave Arcade. Being a band relatively new to synthesizers and electronic music in general, The Faint found themselves on the same page as artists in the early eighties - looking forward while at the same time trying to come to terms with the new technical aspects of their own work.

In 2001, The Faint released the highly-acclaimed Danse Macabre, showing the band in a slightly darker, more developed form. They have just release a collection of remixes of the tracks from that album.

Other Items Of Interest The lyrics on Blank-Wave Arcade were written as social and ethical observations but with song titles like Worked Up So Sexual, Sex Is Personal, and Casual Sex, The Faint often find themselves cited as sex fiends.

IF Recommends

Danse Macabre (Buy it at Amazon)
Danse Macabre Remixes (Buy it at Amazon)

Websites The Faint | Saddle Creek | City Slang