The Faraway Places is an indie rock

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band. Originally formed in Boston, Massachusetts as the Solar Saturday, they changed their name after moving to Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

.

History

The group issued its first EP as a self-titled affair under the name Solar Saturday in 2001. Members Chris Colthart and Donna Coppola had previously accompanied Papas Fritas

Papas Fritas

Papas Fritas is an American indie-rock band that formed in 1992 and released three studio albums before quietly breaking up around 2001. The band's name is Spanish for "French fries" but is also a pun on the phrase "Pop has freed us," which they used as both the name of their music publishing...

 on a tour promoting their third album Buildings and Grounds

Buildings and Grounds

Buildings and Grounds is the third and final studio album by Papas Fritas, released stateside on Minty Fresh in March 2000. In Australia it was distributed by local label Half a Cow, their first release of a non-Aussie album since Bettie Serveert's Palomine five years earlier.- Track listing...

(2000). Following a move to Los Angeles, the group reconvened with Colthart, Coppola, Chris Phillips, and Scott Barber, and changed its name to Faraway Places. In 2003, they released a full-length on Eenie Meenie Records

Eenie Meenie Records

Eenie Meenie Records is an independent record label that specializes in signing indie pop, indie rock and electronica artists, such as The Faraway Places, From Bubblegum to Sky, Seksu Roba and Troubled Hubble...

, which received enough attention to warrant a European release through the Bella Union

Bella Union

Bella Union is an independent record label that was started up by Simon Raymonde and Robin Guthrie in 1997.After releasing records with 4AD for a large part of their career, Cocteau Twins decided to take a step towards independence and started up the Bella Union record label, through which they...

 label. The record won the group comparisons to XTC

XTC

XTC were a New Wave band from Swindon, England, active between 1976 and 2005. The band enjoyed some chart success, including the UK and Canadian hits "Making Plans for Nigel" and "Senses Working Overtime" , but are perhaps even better known for their long-standing critical success.- Early years:...

 and the Elephant 6 collective. A follow-up arrived in 2009.

Members

• Chris Colthart - guitar, vocals
• Donna Coppola - keyboard, vocals
• Scott Barber - bass
• Eric Bartels - drums

Former

• Jeff Wright - bass
• Chris Phillips - drums

Discography

Year	Title	Label
2001	Solar Saturday	Near By Music
2003	Unfocus on It	Eenie Meenie Eenie Meenie Records Eenie Meenie Records is an independent record label that specializes in signing indie pop, indie rock and electronica artists, such as The Faraway Places, From Bubblegum to Sky, Seksu Roba and Troubled Hubble...
2009	Out of the Rain, the Thunder, and the Lightning	Save It Records