The Omaha-based band would rather keep things indie than turn itself into a big-time also-ran.

Earlier this year, the L.A. Weekly ran a huge profile on Omaha, Nebraska's thriving indie-rock scene, arguing that "never has a small group of friends achieved such widespread commercial success without the aid of a major label." With reverential coverage having also appeared in publications like Spin and Rolling Stone, it's now official: the unassuming Midwest city is to 2004 what Seattle was to the early '90s. From Bright Eyes to Azure Ray to Rilo Kiley to the Faint, Omaha is churning out the kind of acts endorsed by discerning record-store clerks everywhere. It's also the operating base of Saddle Creek Records, which, having signed the aforementioned bands, has become the most influential indie since grunge-era Sub Pop.

As the Faint knows too well, all this has had the A & R weasels circling for the better part of a year. The quintet isn't, interested, however. Observant students of rock 'n' roll history, the band's members know that for every success story like Nirvana, there are a dozen also-rans like Mudhoney.

"We've had some really big offers; in the end we decided that route just wasn't right for us," says bassist Joel Peterson, on the line from home. "It took us several months to figure that out, though. As the negotiations got serious, we realized that just thinking about a deal was making us nervous and upset to our stomachs. We literally couldn't--and didn't--write a song that entire time. But once we said no, we were able to have fun being a band again."

The Faint--at Richard's on Richards on Friday (November 5)--sounds like it's having a blast on its third and latest album, the smashingly retro-sounding Wet From Birth. Loaded with rise-of-the-robots synths, deliriously detached vocals, and the best bass lines this side of vintage Duran Duran, the album's 10 songs proudly pledge allegiance to the '80s. Peterson and his bandmates are hardly alone in their fascination with the Me Decade; from the Stills to Interpol to Metric, there's no shortage of acts obsessed with the era that gave us pointy shoes, synthetic synth-pop, and Molly Ringwald. But unlike most of its contemporaries, the Faint aspires to something more than aping those who have come before.

"The '80s is when we first became aware of pop music, after which we got into indie rock and punk in the '90s," Peterson says. "It's those two decades that definitely colour what we do. At the same time, we tend to be interested in moving forward as well. The goal is to take our influences and use them to make something that sounds fresh to us."

The Faint is indeed not afraid to tamper with its sound, adding Romany violin to "Desperate Guys", jacking up "I Disappear" with Big Black--strength bass bombs, and infusing "Southern Belles in London Sing" with ethereal female vocals. And the band doesn't shy away from topicality; "Paranoiattack" sets America's post--9/11 mood to a death-disco beat, and the frenetic "Dropkick the Punks" laments the state of corporate-controlled modern-rock radio. It all makes for an irresistibly potent concoction, and that's made the Faint among the most successful bands in not only Omaha but also indie rock. And that's exactly where Peterson and his bandmates intend to stay.

"Some of us are VH-1 watchers, and we've seen all the behind-the-scenes stuff of bands that made big mistakes," the bassist says. "I gotta say that the stories of people signing terrible contracts with terrible labels must have rubbed off. But as much as we make fun of those bands, when someone sticks a fat contract in front of you, your first reaction is to go 'Whoa!' That's when you have to look at the fine print."