By Ryan J. Nims
I have a confession: I was in my forties before I learned to appreciate “screamo” as a genre. I have been a fan of punk and related genres since my teens, and sure, I liked some of Thursday’s stuff back in the day, and had a brief flirtation with Poison The Well and Alexisonfire in the MySpace era. But it wasn’t until the Pandemic, when I discovered bands like Holy Fawn, The Sound Of Animals Fighting, and Converge that something clicked. The vocals are emotionally raw; the music, dynamic. What else had I been missing?
A couple of years ago, the album Clairvoyant (No Sleep Records, 2019) from a band called State Faults came onto my radar, and I knew I needed to hear more from this band. Fast forward a couple of months – my best friend had acquired the band’s entire discography in a grab bag of punk vinyl and, as they were not his cup of tea, gifted them all to me. I’ve been a fan ever since!
So with that personal history out of the way, I have been looking forward to the new State Faults record since it was announced earlier this year. Following issues with their previous label, No Sleep (which has just shuttered), Children Of The Moon was released via Deathwish, Inc., the label run by Converge frontman Jacob Bannon.
For those unfamiliar, State Faults are an emotional post-hardcore band from Santa Rosa, California who blend anxiety-inducing song structures with some melodic elements reminiscent of shoegaze. Founded in 2010, the band has gone through some line up changes but currently consists of founding members Jonny Andrew on vocals and guitar, Michael Weldon on guitar and vocals, Jared Wallace on drums, and recent recruit Jeff Overn on bass and vocals.
Clocking in at just over an hour, Children Of The Moon is almost double the length of any of their previous albums. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less intense. The band incorporates found sound and spoken word vocals in several places, giving the album a cinematic feel. Jonny Andrew is using more clean vocals on this album, which is a nice change. The nine-minute closing track “Bodega Head” is almost entirely sung, with the screamed vocals coming in at the song’s crescendo. I won’t break down each song, but the album overall is perhaps their most cohesive offering yet. The vocals are intense, the rhythm section is bombastic, and boy are there some great riffs throughout. Some of the standout tracks are the first single “Paulo Santo,” “Leviathan,” the 10-minute epic “No Gospel,” and the previously mentioned “Bodega Head.”
If you’re a fan of post-hardcore, and looking for something new, the new one by State Faults is one to check out. Fans of The Emo Diaries (Fridays at 4:30) would probably find a lot to like here!