Photo by Evan Jenkins
This Friday, Chicago art-rock band FACS will release their monolithic new album Still Life In Decay on Trouble In Mind Records. The album’s opening track, “Constellation,” premieres today and kicks things off with a squall of white noise before collapsing into the songs lumbering groove. Guitarist Brian Case’s guitar bares a ghostly presence, appearing and disappearing in washes of gauzy feedback throughout the track.
FACS have been perfecting their brand of intense, cathartic art rock over the course of four ever-evolving albums. Beginning with 2018’s Negative Houses thru 2021’s landmark Present Tense, the trio digs deep into the gaping maw of a black hole and pulls back whatever debris they can grasp onto. Still Life In Decay comes as an addendum to their last album— a “post-event review,” if you will.
While FACS are a heavy band, they don’t necessarily feel like one— Case’s fluttering, melodic guitar lines are buoyed by the insistent, underlying pulse of an expert rhythm section. Bassist Alianna Kalaba, who stepped in for founding member Jonathan Van Herik in 2018, makes her amicable last stand here with the group. Alongside drummer Noah Leger, they dance and twist around each other like a double helix, forming the DNA of what makes FACS so special. Collectively they approach rhythm from outside the groove as opposed to inside it, creating a lattice where Case weaves guitar lines like creeping vines, making the moments on Still Life In Decay where the band locks in even more powerful.
FACS have never been more solidified as a unit, and Still Life In Decay is a decidedly focused effort. The apocalyptic chaos that defined their previous album is waved away in favor of an examination of events with cumbrous clarity. Recorded by Sanford Parker at Chicago’s esteemed Electrical Audio, Still Life In Decay will be available this Friday from Trouble In Mind Records.
Pre-order the record here and see FACS on tour throughout the year.
FACS, on tour
April 6 Milwaukee, WI @ Cactus Club
April 7 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
April 8 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
May 15 Pittsburgh, PA @ Government Center
May 16 Washington, DC @ DC9
May 17 Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA
May 19 Providence, RI @ Fete Lounge
May 20 Montreal, QC @ La Sotterenea
May 21 Toronto, ON @ The Garrison
June 12 St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
June 13 Moorhead, MN @ Harold’s on Main
June 16 Seattle, WA @ Vera Project
June 17 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
June 19 Sacramento, CA @ Starlet Room
June 20 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
June 21 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo
June 22 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
June 24 Denver, CO @ Hi-Dive
June 25 Kansas City, MO @ miniBar
June 26 Davenport, IA @ Raccoon Motel
July 28 Indianapolis, IN @ Post. Festival
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