Droning post-punk bands FACS and Dummy bring tour to Bottom of the Hill
SAN FRANCISCO -- Acclaimed Midwestern post-punk trio FACS brings its current tour with Trouble In Mind lablemates Dummy to the Bottom of the Hill Tuesday night.
Guitarist Brian Case had already made a name for himself as a member of the experimental math-rock group 90 Day Men that he founded in St. Louis in the mid-1990s before relocating to Chicago. That unit created its unique, exploratory mix of progressive rock and post-hardcore for a decade before splitting up. Case would end up in garage-punk band the Ponys in 2005, contributing to the band last full-length Turn the Lights Out two years later and the EP Deathbed Plus Four in 2010 before it too dissolved (though Case has played with the reunited band since).
Case would go on to his greatest success yet with his acclaimed garage-punk-meets-krautrock group Disappears. Putting out a series of five celebrated studio albums on Chicago-based Kranky Records (as well as a stunning live recording of David Bowie's landmark record Low), the band played extensively with the likes of the Jesus Lizard, Tortoise and Explosions in the Sky and at one point featured former Sonic Youth member Steve Shelley on drums.
When bassist Damon Carruesco decided to leave the band to focus on his art and design work in 2016, FACS rose from the ashes with Case, drummer Noah Leger and guitarist Jonathan van Herik carrying on under the new name. Crafting an even more spare and minimalist style of art punk, the trio's music recalls British experimental pioneers This Heat and krautrock greats Faust. Their first album Negative Houses on the Trouble in Mind label in 2018 would feature Case playing bass and was the trio's only album before van Herik departed.
The band would recruit Alianna Kalaba (Cat Power, We Ragazzi) to play bass on the trio's sophomore album Lifelike the following year allowing Case to switch his focus back to guitar. FACS have maintained a steady output of new music ever since that continuously pushes the band's intense, claustrophobic sound forward. Their latest effort Still Life In Decay came out earlier this year to some of the band's best reviews yet. While Kalaba would also leave the band after the recording was completed, van Herik has rejoined the band, restoring the original trio albeit with the returning member switching to bass so Case could remain on guitar
For the band's current tour that stops at the Bottom of the Hill Tuesday night, they are joined by current tourmates and fellow Trouble In Mind artists Dummy. Formed in Los Angeles just under five years ago, the experimental crew featuring keyboard player/singer Emma Maatman (also a member of psychedelic prog/doom band Taarkus), guitarists Joe Trainor and Nathan O'Dell (who played in Baltimore band Wildhoney), drummer Alex Ewell and bassist Mark Greshowak touched on elements of avant-folk and lo-fi electronic drone on their first two EP recordings. The band's more polished 2021 debut album Mandatory Enjoyment hearkens back to the propulsive pulse of '90s motorik disciples Stereolab. More recently, they issued two new songs as part of the Sub Pop Singles Club. Local band April Magazine opens with SF DJ Sasquatch Borracho spinning records before and between bands.
FACS and Dummy with April Magazine
Tuesday, June 20, 8:30 p.m., $13-$15
The Bottom of the Hill
