by Ron DePasquale
While grunge reigned in the early '90s, New Fast Automatic Daffodils made its mark on the indie rock scene in Manchester, England. Bassist Justin Crawford, guitarist Dolan Hewison, and drummer Perry Saunders got together in 1988, and singer Andy Spearpoint joined soon after. Spearpoint's obscure lyrics spoken over repetitive riffs and beats gave NFAD's music a dream-like quality. While many bands of that era were preoccupied with displaying their angst on the world stage, NFAD was concerned with creating groovy, spacy music you could dance to. And they made plenty of it: three full-lengths, five EPs, and ten singles all in roughly four years.