4 out of 5

Produced by: John Congleton

Label: Trouble In Mind

Shifting from the post-punk scuffles of early 90 Day Men to their latter day detuned-prog psych fantasies, on to the Krautrock pummel of Disappears, and its further leaning into art rock tendencies, what kind of band would Brian Case’s next iteration, FACS, be?

With opener Skylarking, it would appear that a healthy medium has been achieved: the aggressive momentum and vocal snarl suggested (It (Is) It) era 90 Day Men; the muted guitar work of Disappears.  Followup Silencing even has a familiar reverbed, rich guitar sound as Panda Park and the like, which makes sense, given that producer John Congleton has been in tow for a while to give these groups a deep but generally organic sound (even during Disappears’ coldest moments). But FACS really props themselves up as a definite standalone unit toward the conclusion of Houses Breathing, with an insane sax solo that you think ends, but then just gets plenty insanier.

Yeah, baby, we’re full into Chicago post rock here, and FACS’ exploration of empty or vacant spaces – sure, Negative Houses – is a perfect tonal match, as that big ass bass bounces off of far away walls, and guitar floats in and out, while workman-like drumming surges the group into sudden and intense peaks. The legit riffs that occasionally appear, more toward the close of the disc, are powerful for how sparingly they’re applied, but the group manages a fair amount of diverse noises and NOISE, given that there’s a general sparse m.o. here. Until, that is, moments like that sax freakout. And ultimately, those moments and sparse surprises make the album; some songs seem to start in similar places, but if you allow them the time to grow, damned if the disc doesn’t become the most exciting thing these 90 Day evolutions have done in a bit.