Photo by: Chris Higdon
Official press release:
Exploding with tales of overblown machismo at the nuclear chess board, mental instability in a time of crisis, and honest living in a corrupt world, Louisville dark punk stalwarts Fotocrime’s new LP Security— out on March 13 — is rife with sentiments of paranoia and impending doom. But unlike post-punk greats Killing Joke, Fotocrime never go full conspiracy theorist or espouse theories on the alien civilizations that built ancient Egypt. Security is very much influenced by Jaz Coleman & Co., and it serves as a celebration of that band’s musical output, alongside other recently passed heroes. Fotocrime frontman Ryan Patterson recalls:
“Killing Joke, Big Black, and Hot Snakes – these were all bands that all had musicians that passed away recently. Geordie Walker, Steve Albini and Rick Froberg were all so crucial to my musical growth, so I wanted to put these influences forward and channel them as much as I could, as opposed to keeping them in my back pocket and letting them manifest in less obvious ways.”
On Security, Fotocrime eschews their previous approach for a more aggressive and furious tone, one that matches the aforementioned bands along with the man-vs-machine churn of Godflesh and middle period Ministry, the down-picking stylings of The Marked Men, and more. Historically a synth-forward band, these influences, which have been omnipresent in virtually all of Patterson’s previous work, come to the forefront to reveal a new era for the band. Patterson explains:
“The new album has some synth textures, but for Security we had a different sort of goal. We recorded most of the music live, and what you’re hearing is primarily guitar, bass, and drum machine. So there are plenty of Soviet-era analog synths, but not anywhere near the amount that there has been with Fotocrime previously.”
Starting with a bowel-quaking bass kick that hits like a body blow, the first single “Plowjob” uses a white hot sawtooth bass synth to cut through an icy drumloop before matching that ferocity with a similarly brutish guitar line doubled on top. By the time the galloping riff has led you into the reverb-drenched chorus bolstered by the coarsely delicious vocals of Aaron Turner (Sumac), you’ve voluntarily committed to a second beating. The subject matter is similarly scathing— examining our world and the tyrannical man-children looking to control, and possibly destroy, an existence that doesn’t fit their narrow view.
This more guitar-driven punk direction may seem like a large pivot but to those in the know, it’s been something inherent to Fotocrime’s live presentation in addition to several of his past bands. Patterson says:
“Our live show has always reflected the visceral power I put into the performance. And when I play guitar, there’s a lot of energy that comes through. At our shows, people would often say to me ‘This is heavier live than I thought,’ so I wanted to swing the hammer harder and lean into that live electricity which hadn’t been explored on record.”
Security will be out on March 13th— pre-order now on Bandcamp or from Auxiliary/Shirtkiller directly here. More news and singles will surface soon.
Security track listing:
- “Crimewave”
- “Plowjob”
- “Shockwave”
- “Unthinkable”
- “Disharmonizer”
- “Intimidation”
- “Dreamstate”
- “Cautious”
- “Grifter”
- “Security”
