Facs - Still Life In Decay - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Everything eventually turns to dust. Everyone knows this, but few want to acknowledge that our time on this mortal coil is fleeting, preferring to remain in stasis, in hopes that Inchthe endInch will pass them by. Chicago trio FACS (guitarist Brian Case, bassist Alianna Kalaba & drummer Noah Leger) have been perfecting their brand of intense, cathartic post-punk over the course of four ever-evolving albums, beginning with 2017's InchNegative HousesInch thru 2021's landmark InchPresent Tense', which saw the trio dig deep into the gaping maw of a black hole & pulling back whatever debris they could grasp onto. Their newest InchStill Life In DecayInch comes as an addendum to the last album - a Inchpost-event reviewInch if you will.InchStill Life In DecayInch starts with a squall of white noise before collapsing into the band already locked into InchConstellationInchs lumbering groove, with Case's guitar a ghostly presence, appearing & disappearing in washes of gauzy feedback throughout the track. FACS have never been more locked in as a unit, and InchStill Life In DecayInch is a decidedly more focused effort. The apocalyptic chaos that defined their previous album InchPresent TenseInch is waved away in favor of an examination of events with cumbrous clarity. FACS are a heavy band, but they don't necessarily FEEL like one (see side two's InchStill LifeInch, where Case's fluttering, melodic guitar lines are buoyed by the insistent, underlying pulse of the bass & drums). As a rhythm section, Kalaba & Leger dance & twist around each other like a double helix, forming the DNA of what makes FACS 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, which makes the moments on InchStill Life In DecayInch where the band DOES lock in even more powerful. When the guitar punc