Photos and Writing by Kyle Ostrander
Wednesday night was unusually cold for April in NYC. With temperatures dropping below 40 degrees fahrenheit, almost everyone on the street was dressed in winter jackets, scarves, and gloves. That didn’t stop art rock band FACS from packing out TV Eye with fired-up, devoted fans. The Chicago-based trio is midway through a quick run of North American shows in support of Wish Defense, their latest release and sixth studio album. The record is a collection of beautifully unique, genre-bending tracks, and is the last album engineered by the legendary Steve Albini.
The show started with a curtain closed across the stage that was slowly drawn open as dissonant music playing over the PA system marked the band’s entrance. The room immediately started buzzing with chunky bass, clanky distorted guitar, and driving drums as the group kicked off with “When You Say”. The hour-long set featured cuts across the group’s catalog, including several off the aforementioned new record, including “A Room”, “Desire Path”, and the title track “Wish Defense”. The energy was kept high from start to finish, with FACS letting the music do most of the talking for them, often moving from one song right into the next. If you walked into the venue with your eyes shut, the sheer fullness of the sound would make you imagine there must be dozens of members on stage. The trio clearly have an expertise of their craft, producing intricate, vibrant tones that moved in swells throughout the room. Keeping up with the music, the band jammed out in their areas of the stage by jumping around, flipping their hair, and pressing their instruments right up to their amps. The entranced crowd was pressed right up against the stage, trying to get as close to the action as possible, cheering loudly during the spellbinding performance.
FACS only have a few shows left on their North American tour in Montreal (4/11), Toronto (4/12), Grand Rapids (4/13), and a hometown show in Chicago (4/17). More info on these dates and ticket links can be found here.
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