State Faults (formerly known as Brother Bear) are an American post-hardcore band formed in Santa Rosa, California in 2010. ^[1] Noisey included their album "Resonate/Desperate" as one of the records that best captures the last decade of hardcore punk. ^[2] In 2019, they were listed at number 16 on Kerrang's 50 Best American Hardcore Bands Right Now list. ^[3]

History

The band formed in 2010, under the name Brother Bear, releasing their debut EP, Head In the Clouds the next year. ^[4] However changed their name soon after due to the large number of bands who were also operating under that name. ^[5] On 8 May 2012, they released their debut album Desolate Peaks through Tiny Engine Records. ^[6] On 12 November 2013, they released their sophomore album Resonate/Desperate through No Sleep Records. ^[7] In 2015, Kelley departed from the band, while Chris Hansen from No Sleep Records was pushing the band to put out a new record. This led to the three remaining members deciding to officially break-up and work on a separate musical project, which would turn out to be noise rock band Slow Bloom. ^[8]

In 2019, Andrew, Weldon and Wallace reformed State Faults due to increased interest by fans and began recording material. ^[8] Their first performance after reforming was at Santa Rosa's Chop Shop on 18 February, with support from Outlier, Sloth & Turtle and Pushing It. ^[9] Their third album Clairvoyant was released on 21 June 2019. ^[10] In December 2019, Brooklyn Vegan placed Resonate/Desperate at number 95 on their top 100 punk rock and emo albums of the 2010s. ^[11] In addition to this, Chris Luedtke of Metal Injection included the album as an "Honourable Mention" in his list of the greatest albums of 2019. ^[12]

Musical style

State Faults have primarily been categorised as screamo ^{[13] [14]} and post-hardcore ^{[13] [10]} possessing elements of black metal, ^{[15] [16]} post-rock, ^{[17] [18]} shoegazing, ^[19] heavy metal, ^[20] noise rock, mathcore and heavy psych. ^[1] Their music often makes heavy usage of dynamics, ^{[21] [22]} by incorporating both ambient and cacophonous passages. ^[23] Their softer sections are often utilized through the usage of reverb effects, ambient synths and occasionally spoken word. ^[4] Dan Ozzi, a writer at Noisey, described their music as "what a panic attack sounds like". ^[24] Some tracks, such as "Wildfires", incorporate melody and hooks into unclean vocals. ^[25]

Lyrically, their music generally focuses on spirituality, ^[1] makes use of references to the occult ^[26] and is heavily emotional. ^[21] A number of the tracks on their debut album were based on anxiety and its repercussions. ^[27] In an article for No Echo, Adam Yoe described their lyrics as "meditation on trauma and healing". ^[23]

Members

Current

• Jonny Andrew – lead vocals, guitar (2010–2015, 2019–present)
• Jef Overn – bass (2020–present), vocals (2020–present)
• Jared Wallace – drums (2012–2015, 2019–present), guitar (2010–2012)

Former

• Chip Kelley – bass, vocals (2010–2015)
• Toby Brown – drums (2010–2012)
• Michael Weldon – bass (2019–2020), vocals (2010–2015, 2019–2020), guitar (2010–2015)

Discography

Studio albums

• Desolate Peaks (2012)
• Resonate/Desperate (2013)
• Clairvoyant (2019)

EPs

• Head In The Clouds (2011)
• Moon Sign Gemini (2020)

Singles

• Vespers (2010)
• Arrowhead (2010)
• Ugly (2012)

References