Facs – Wish Defense – Album Review
by Killian Laher

Facs are a band from Chicago who formed out of the ashes of another Chicago band, Disappears, back in 2016.  This is their fifth album, engineered by the late Steve Albini, and it packs a considerable amount into seven tracks and 30 minutes.

It starts with Jonathan Van Herik’s towering bassline on Talking Haunted.  It’s one of the best things you’ll hear on the album, and it’s ably supported by Brian Case’s scratchy guitar and staccato vocal delivery on a downright moody track.  It sounds like a slightly less angsty Chameleons classic.  This atmosphere is shattered by the gauzy, woozy guitars of Ordinary Voices, with another doomy old bassline that picks up pace after a minute or two, evolving into a pretty insistent rocker.

The title track opens with a Gang of Four style stop-start rhythm, before turning into a pounding anthem.  Case roars “I’m not here!” repeatedly over Noah Leger’s drums, packing the signature Albini wallop, and the track erupts into a form of controlled chaos.

Sometimes Only is the longest track at nearly six and a half minutes, consisting mostly of a repetitive bass stab and not a lot else!  Complex music all the same, leading to an almost dizzying last minute or two.  You Future has a repetitive, gnarly guitar and some 80s-inspired bass, Case doing his best Mark E Smith over pounding drums before the track collapses in on itself.

You could be forgiven for thinking you’ve heard it all before, but not quite done like this.  Some really intelligent post-punk sounds here.