Without re-inventing the wheel, Chicago's FACS still find a way on their new album to make music that's visceral and stunning. Still Life in Decay, out now via Trouble in Mind, punches and kicks its way into your head. It's a lumbering beast of a release, and proof that there's still so much life left in the post-punk form.
Echoing bands like Live Skull and Band of Susans, "When You Say" careens around the room, Brian Case's guitar and voice pushing this forward with unforgiving force. The elegantly mid-tempo "Slogan" benefits from clever percussion from Noah Leger, and fuzzy bass-work from Aliana Kalaba. Kalaba's since left the band, so thank God she's here on this one to anchor it in a heavy, maliciously cool way. On the longer songs near the end of the album, FACS do reveal an adept hand at modulating their attack.
I suppose that lots of folks are going to be drawn to this by the force of the material, but I've always found their more ruminative numbers to be just as compelling. FACS are treading ground that's been mapped before, but they are doing it in a consistently interesting manner, with the resulting music still feeling unrelenting in a fresh way.
Still Life in Decay by FACS is out now via Trouble in Mind.
[Photo: Evan Jenkins / FACS Bandcamp]