With a couple fingers stabbed up around each lid, and I mean like really up there to the point that the eyestrain gets worse, the face-aching portion of today’s fever dreaming state of mind finally kicks in. With every muscle wrapped around my mind the very ambition of unspent energy keeps thoughts whirring taut in spherical containment, unable to resolve and only satiated by the nausea of vexation. Shallow breathing and bug-eyed in their attention paid to maze-built musicianship, the heartthrob bass and shoulder hiked syncopated percussion of world class and Oakland-based post-hardcore/noise rock trio Facet lends no crystal palatial respite for the mind on their self-titled debut LP. The abysm refracted is profound in its effort to parse the overloaded mind where all extrapolations maintain a hiked up and leg-hugging kinetic charge for the duration of ‘Facet‘ yet there is no release which comes from seeing it all through, rather it cycles back into the machine and the loop coldly repeats. The Californian trio’s ability to express intrusive thought within random-accessible waves of hot-breathing action is decidedly sweet, a bop despite conveying an ironic attitude throughout. A sublimely obsessed rhythm runs through their work, enough of a rush beneath a spoken-and-shouted tuning-out which should deliver something notable per the existing fandom for the ultra-sweaty ancient post-hardcore energy it builds upon.

Facet formed back in 2019 and I now exactly nothing else about ’em otherwise. The main reason I’d picked their first EP, a substantial cassette album (‘Duck‘, 2019) was due to its semblance of the easy climbing, spaced post-hardcore patience of ‘Interiors‘-era Quicksand but that level of headiness given to the subversive intensity of USA Nails, fast-driving and full of ruckus but able to dance around head draining dread most of the time. It was a brilliant starting point, bountiful in its recording and ever-tunneling within its run-on momentum and simple presentation. With consideration for their perspective it’d slotted in well with a certain era of Unwound, one of my personal favorite post-hardcore artists (esp. the Kill Rock Stars releases) which they’d referenced during the ‘Duck‘ sessions with a cover of “Devoid” and this speaks to their taste being well conveyed within their music as well as to the update they’ve provided to the cause.

There was a self-aware feeling to what they were doing on those initial recordings, enough of a keen-eyed stare to translate as confidence, or, professional aptitude that felt serious and considered well beyond the usual spindly Bandcamp noise-punk dredge. The high-cut shoulders of classic noise rock’s pangs of anxiety haven’t yet to shatter their smooth, moderne focus thus far but ‘Facet’ does deliver as a follow-up to what we’d heard on ‘Duck‘ in the sense that a resounding, profound voice exists naturally next to the spastic meter of nowadays noise rock sans anything purely skronking. This leaves Facet entirely one dimensional, without deviation from the intensity of their ride, and while some might find this too directional and perhaps unpleasantly lasered in on the neon-lit fixation in mind from my point of view it honors their suggested influences while generating heavily repeatable momentum. Their approach could be more original in some respects but the effect of their work is yet entirely desirable for its easily read palette and unflinching delivery.

Not all thoughts are equally profound but they all flow together beautifully as we start with the restless wheeling of opener “Automatic” and the perhaps most classically -noise rock- piece on the album “Triple Check” the thing to note up front in my mind was the focus on layering the pieces of their work in a way which creates a bit of havoc. Of course the rhythm section is locked in their fight throughout each song but when they do break things up a bit we see the three dimensional stack of the sound design frayed, disassembled, and put back together by the frequent interplay of parts. In a live setting this could be hard to nail but on record hitting “Triple Check” and finding that pocket along with the band was a strong invitation to start. Since I’d mentioned the action rocking bustle of USA Nails I have to admit single “Yoga” does feel somewhat birthed from that standard set, even if they are crawling about using different combinations of limbs. All thoughts are fleeting , though as the running order is seamless and quick with those first four or five songs as they come and go un under three minutes on average.

The waning libido of the shopaholic, (re: inflation.) — ‘Facet‘ kicks off hot but eventually begins to aim for perhaps their best secondary trait, a frothy atmospheric reach with “Bury” being the most pronounced stoppage to sniff the ether where we get some forlorn Cherubs-esque drift without the fun-sized charm included. That piece contrasted with the likewise steady but pained “Maestro” collectively constituted my favorite portion of the experience, two of the more out-there songs that both have their own meaning, with the latter clearly dealing with consumerism. That’d been the right-sized hit and a bump right into standout “44” might’ve been perfection but I’d felt “Smong” extended the feeling a minute too long and didn’t contribute as much as the two songs that’d preceded it. Do they have more to give? Yeah, I guess “L.B.D.” has a more cumulative thought behind its composition and “Clothier” is appropriate in its unsettling art-punk dirge out, horns and all, but I’d more-or-less gotten my fix by the time “44” punctuates as hard as it does late in Side B.

Though it is familiar, estranged in a satisfying sort of way and referential of some of my favorite stuff Facet‘s self-titled debut only just begins to make good on their own potential energy, or, the promise of -more- beyond their already impressive first release. Biting into some deeper complexity of rhythm and showing signs of expanding at the seams stylistically all point to a worthwhile endeavor, suggesting they’ve still got places to go with it while ‘Facet‘ sates as an quick-witted rush for the time being and should primarily appeal to folks who want the upper tier functional side of classic noise rock/post-hardcore, or, at least enough of a right-brained focus to keep it tuneful throughout. A moderately high recommendation.

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