Review: Wish Defense by FACS
Six albums in seven years. Few bands produce music at such a bountiful clip, but FACS keeps fueling the flame. Also, the Chicago trio never make the same album twice; it is against their artistic morals. What started as a relative continuation of Disappers is now a full-blown, unique entity.
We’ll get to FACS’ ongoing hypnotic rhythms later, but let’s talk about our doppelgangers and doubles, our motivations and the ideas we face in the mirror. Is your “other person” putting on an act? Sometimes, we let bad people put us down, but there is hope beyond that.
The lyrics of Wish Defense, written by guitarist Brian Case, explores the duality of “man.” The “true self” inside of us wants something, but what is it? Case is taking a long look in the mirror, and I think it's wise if all of us do the same.
The artwork for Wish Defense, by Morgan Cuinet, is similar to the black-and-white minimalism with the band's debut, Negative Houses. The lyrics and the checkerboard on the cover has a mirroring effect. Case, always the voice of conviction, says “no feeling is final,” and “clueless from privilege / wasted and content.” He may have sold his past to redefine an era, and that negative peace is tying him up. The title track mentions a terrifying grief as a public performance as Case sings “I’m not here / are you real?” over and over to a dizzying blast of fortitude among all the instruments. Wish Defense is probably FACS’ most fun album; I am air drumming almost the whole time.
FACS continues to put many wormholes into ear holes; they’re a sentimentally erratic band with endless rhythmic possibilities. FACS is a flood of avant-garde punk gravy. The cymbals clang and chime; the band rolls, cleeves and kicks—it all works together so seamlessly. Sometimes, the band members race each other (“Ordinary Voices”). Case’s guitar has a signature ice, and it rings out as if he is sketching, or releasing a river of crystalline vibes.
Keeping a meticulous, powerful and imaginary energy flowing for six albums is amazing. Steve Albini’s death in the middle of the recording of Wish Defense should not be a downer; I can hear Albini cheering from the grave. Stanford Parker stepped in to finish the album, almost immediately, and John Congleton mixed; they followed Albini’s notes.
There must have been a lot of reflection after Albini died during the project. How are we supposed to find elegance when we’re revolting against desire? When we look back at ourselves, what if we feel nothing? “What shape is the dark?” Case asks. “What shape is the hate?” Did a broken state make you?
“You Future” ends the album with maybe its best lyric: “Eyes the size of an American mile.” Case asks, “are you the same as you were?” Hopefully, no.