FACS sprung forth in early 2017 from the ashes of beloved
Chicago band Disappears. 'Negative Houses' is their debut
recording; an abstraction of their former outfit, even more minimal
and bare than what came before.
After the departure of bassist Damon Carruesco, Disappears
remaining members Brian Case, Noah Leger and Jonathan van Herik
initially put the project on hold, but ultimately decided to carry
on, pushing the project towards new frontiers. Musically, FACS
heads in the same direction as Disappears, albeit on a different
path. They approach the stark, gothy post-punk they perfected
more rhythmically and abstract than in Disappears, with Leger’s
motorik, machine-like drumming taking the forefront (see the tunes
‘Skylarking’ and ‘Others’) and van Herik’s guitar alternating
between slashes of dissonant ambience and percussive accent.
Case switches from guitar to bass in FACS, adding an economical
throb to the band’s drive on songs like ‘Just A Mirror’ & the album’s
centerpiece, the near nine-minute, sax-soaked tour-de-force ‘Houses
Breathing’, whose electric heartbeat lumbers forward, sounding like
an outtake from Cold Storage Studios circa 1979.
