Listen To The New Fotocrime Single “Grifter” Featuring J. Robbins, Jaye Jayle, Amber Thieneman And Aon Brasi

On their forthcoming LP Security, Louisville dark punk stalwarts FOTOCRIME harness a more aggressive and furious tone, one akin to bands like Killing Joke and Big Black along with the man-vs-machine churn of Godflesh and middle period Ministry and more. Historically a synth-forward band, these influences, which have been omnipresent in virtually all of guitarist/vocalist Ryan Patterson’s previous work, come to the forefront to reveal a new era for the band. 

This sound is on display on new single “Grifter” which premieres today.  Patterson says: “The penultimate song on Security, ‘Grifter’ is a synth-driven punk song that owes as much to Wire as it does Marked Men. There’s probably an acknowledgement due to early Devo, as well the lyrical approach of Rick Froberg. With Fotocrime lyrics, I’ve often been inspired by film noir and hard-boiled mystery novels and ‘Grifter’ falls into this category, while also being an obvious allegory about the monsters in command who are peddling hate while bleeding us dry.”  He continues: “On this track, Benny, David, our trusty Oberheim DX drum machine, and I were joined by drummer Ben Sears (Mirrorless, Whips/Chains) who is a human metronome and master of 16th note hi-hats. My brother Evan Patterson (of Jaye Jayle and Young Widows) came by to play a great synth solo in the bridge and J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines), Amber Thieneman (Fool’s Ghost), and Aon Brasi (Aon Brasi) provide a chorus of backup vocals at the end. J. also plays additional synth and co-produced, engineered, and co-mixed the album, of course. ‘Grifter’ is an angry and sardonic song dripping with syrupy sweet down-stroked post-punk melody. Just how I like it.”

Formed in 2017, FOTOCRIME have released five EPs and four albums, and on Security, Patterson is joined by new members Benjamin Clark on guitar and David Cundiff on bass. Security also features appearances from drummer Jay Weinberg (Suicidal Tendencies, ex-Slipknot), legendary vocalist Barney Greenway of Napalm Death, all three members of the band Sumac, Nick Theinman and Evan Patterson of Young Widows, Nico and Phab of French dark punks Bleakness, and a cavalcade of veteran Louisville artists. Musician and noted producer J.Robbins also performed on several tracks and sat in at Patterson’s the House of Foto studio to co-produce, engineer, and co-mix the effort.