November 7th, 2013 
Troy Sennett 
Artist: State Faults
Album: Resonate/Desperate
Genre: Hardcore
Label: No Sleep Records
It took a long time for me to “get” hardcore. The noisy guitars, chaotic drumming, and complete lack of vocal melody kept me from digging into the music until a couple years ago. I imagine I’m not alone in saying that it was live shows that finally turned the tide on my feelings about the genre. To be packed into a tiny basement or pizza place or coffee shop, mere feet away from the undeniable display of emotion of a melodic hardcore band, is something truly special, and to this day, my favorite hardcore albums are the ones that most vividly take me back to those first few shows.
It’s abundantly clear from “Meteor,” the first track on Resonate/Desperate, that State Faults does just that. They capture everything I love about hardcore, with drums that are punishing while remaining precise, and guitar parts that alternate between noisy riffs and simple but strong melodies. It’s easy to imagine the song’s final, feedback-laden riff echoing off cinderblock walls in the basement of a punk house. In fact, the entire mix feels very “live,” especially in the vocals. Johnny Andrew’s voice is buried just enough that it sounds like he’s using every bit of air in his lungs to make himself heard over the rest of the band. In another environment, this would come across as sloppy recording, but here, the mix is a perfect complement to his emotional shriek.
Andrew’s lyrical themes primarily focus on loneliness. “You’ll never know how it feels to resonate so desperately, lost it all to memories” from “Stalagmites” is a good example of what to expect from these songs. The theme isn’t unique by any means, but it’s very well executed, with so much energy and emotion in every line that it’s hard not to be taken aback at times. The same is true of the group’s songwriting as a whole. Like many of their peers, State Faults tend to overuse techniques like sudden soft/loud/soft transitions and the combination half-time rhythms, twinkly guitar parts, and desperate vocals. Just like the lyrics, this would be a more glaring issue if they weren’t so good at what they do. Furthermore, there is just enough variation throughout to keep the album interesting, like the guitar solo on “Stalagmites” and the post-hardcore-influenced three-four intro to “Diamond Dust.”
The high point of Resonate/Desperate comes just after the halfway mark on “Spectral,” which starts off with a quiet, sparse groove, slowly building intensity under Andrew’s screams of “We seem so human” until all hell breaks loose at the two-minute mark. The spastic riffing that follows forms a seamless transition into “Incantations,” and the result is breathtaking. I envy anyone who gets to hear these two songs played consecutively live, especially if it’s that person’s first hardcore show. Moments like that can open one’s eyes to an entire scene.
That is merely one example of what State Faults truly excels at on Resonate/Desperate. They take an idea and build it up to its emotional peak through lyrical and musical intensity, then they throw it off the cliff, letting it hang in the air around the listener. It’s a formula that has worked extremely well for bands like Defeater and Pianos Become the Teeth, and as this style of music seems to be gaining more and more momentum every day, I wouldn’t be surprised to see State Faults getting similar recognition before long.
SCORE: 8.5/10
Review written by Troy Sennett
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