Fotocrime

Fotocrime

Heart Of Crime

Profound Lore

Ryan Patterson has spent over two-and-a-half decades adding to Louisville’s legacy with his impassioned and activist-minded approach to punk, his rigorous work ethic in the local music scene, his distinctive graphic design work, and his contributions to nearly every aspect of DIY culture. After twelve years fronting the forward-thinking art-inflected punk outfit Coliseum, Patterson looked to the urban centers of London, New York, and Berlin for new sonic inspiration, drawing from the passion of his hardcore roots while tapping into the sounds of classic EBM and post-punk artists for Fotocrime. On his third full-length Heart Of Crime, Patterson continues to explore what he refers to as “electric Southern romanticism.” It’s an album that throbs with pulsing synths, hammering drum machines, and economic guitar hooks. Where so many artists have leveraged these tools towards stern stoicism, Patterson had a different objective for their emotional resonance. This vision has been consistent across the entire Fotocrime catalog, but where 2020’s South Of Heaven found Patterson’s songs supplemented by Steve Albini-recorded live drums, a different approach was required for its follow-up. Consequently, Heart Of Crime is the austere response to quarantine life; the most direct and personal thing Patterson has done and the first time Patterson has recorded and mixed an album all by himself. On this release, one hears the earnestness of the heartland fused with Patterson’s ties to the asceticism of the urban underground, like a post-punk Leonard Cohen. One also hears an aspect of Fotocrime that’s a response and reaction to...

Fotocrime

South Of Heaven

Profound Lore

The new Fotocrime (the dark wave project of R. Patterson from acclaimed hardcore punk band Coliseum) full-length album South Of Heaven, the second full-length chapter in the project’s narrative, finds comfort on the fringe. This is the backlit highway slithering from 2018’s Principle Of Pain, which bowed at the altar of post-street punks Blitz while nodding at the megawatt gleam of Depeche Mode and churn of Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. The stories comprising this latest are winding and boundless, unfolding with unexpected paths and hairpin turns. Touching the myths of Saturn and Phaethon and mining the lives of Bruno Ganz and Francis Bacon, the album carves a landscape that spans both earthly and astral planes. It is a record for late night drives, a soundtrack for headlights illuminating the horizon. Produced by J. Robbins (Jawbox), with sessions recorded by legendary engineer Steve Albini (Shellac, Big Black, Nirvana etc) at Electrical Audio in Chicago, South Of Heaven features guest appearances by Hayden Menzies (Metz), Nick Thieneman (Young Widows), Janet Morgan (Channels), Erik Denno (Kerosene 454), and Rob Moran (Unbroken), and continues with a swim in the open wounds and spilt blood of heartbreak, a harp-tinged appeal for care and company, and a postmortem of derailed destinies. Crackling guitars and stutter-stepping synth make songs on here bona-fide grunge-wave burners.