zed equals zee

I find it quite remarkable that Omaha, Nebraska’s Saddle Creek Records could have birthed three different bands with such different sounds. Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes have the emo-folk thing, Cursive the harder indie sound, and The Faint write dance-y electro-pop. Or maybe dance-y electro-indie-punk would be a better description – it has considerably more edge than the warmed-over New Order sounds that seems to characterize many electro-pop bands these days. To make their new album, Fasciinatiion, The Faint left the Saddle Creek nest and struck out on their own, building their own studio space, Enamel, and starting their own label with the extremely 21st century name of blank.wav. With its heavy distortion and booty-shaking bass, Fasciinatiion sounds a bit like a bastard lovechild of We Are Scientists and LCD Soundsystem, with some donor DNA from the Postal Service. In keeping with the nerd/sex/future theme, the standout track is “The Geeks Were Right.” And despite having what is perhaps my least favourite band name ever, Does It Offend You, Yeah? did a pretty decent remix.

More The Faint: myspace website

MP3: The Faint – The Geeks Were Right

MP3: The Faint – The Geeks Were Right (Does It Offend You, Yeah? remix)