The Chicago trio FACS make music that seems like the culmination of a dozen different strands of post-punk. And here, in this plague year, the tunes on Void Moments, seem like the hopeless anthems of the day. The record, out on Friday via the reputable Trouble in Mind Records, is bracing and oddly cathartic in spots.
"Teenage Hive" rumbles like something from Male Gaze, and I suppose that would be a proper comparison point. Still, the musicians in FACS -- guitarist Brian Case, drummer Noah Leger, and bassist Alianna Kalab -- seem more interested in texture than outright force, with "Version" being a thing of disturbing beauty. The cut is epic and unnerving, and outside an easy genre label. Elsewhere, "Void Walker" mixes a flash of early Joy Division with something more prog-influenced, while "Lifelike" grinds and churns before settling into an impressive, Fugazi-like rhythmic racket.
FACS admirably pursue their own muse. This is music that has the seriousness of the best Sonic Youth about it, and the casual indifference (to borrow the phrase), of disposable No NY punk about it. FACS are serenading as the world ends, and the fire in the playing is the spark that keeps things lit and alive. Restrained yet assuredly emotional (in a fashion), everything on Void Moments is compelling and unlike so much else I've heard lately. Play this one loud, folks.
Void Moments is out on Friday via Trouble in Mind Records.
More details on FACS via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: FACS Facebook page]