by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Following the release of last year's most exceptional Other Places LP, Toronto's Animal Faces decided to call it quits. From the ashes of one band comes another. Meet Chris, a new project from Animal Faces' Zach Van Horne (guitar/vocals) and Ryan Naray (bass) together with La Luna's Nicolas Field (guitar/vocals) and Keean Mansoor (drums). Questionable band name aside, the quartet are creating a sound that mixes twangy post-hardcore with a detached indie bliss. The band's debut EP, I Don’t Think Anything, due out September 17th via Art of The Uncarved Block, reminding us again that all hope is not lost.
.Heavy on the dynamic songwriting akin to their past, Chris' first single "Under The Weight" is a roller coaster of an experience, slowly creaking upward before hurtling forward. The gentle melodies and front-porch guitars set a softer tone, if not an ominous one. As the song builds, the band's melodies, harmonies (joined by Meghan McDonald), and rhythm shift ever so slightly, offering nuance that sticks like glue. The song builds it's way into a massive swarm of guitar, swallowing anything that was once delicate and peeling back only as the dust has settled. The video, directed by Sebastian Jarmula and starring Alexander Harry George Bennett, captures a would-be urban cowboy on a day at the carnival. It's a contemplative clip that feels trapped in an alternative life, a call for freedom ringing out in the end as our narrator stumbles forward in time with Chris' heartfelt lyrics.
Chris' I Don't Think Anything EP is out September 17th via Art of The Uncarved Block.