we’re definitely just getting started and stoked on seeing where this goes.” In spring, the band teased the world with a three song preview of the glorious maelstrom to come via their official Bandcamp page. The politically charged lyrics in “Scourge of Empire” feel right at home during this sideshow of an election year. “We wanted to go for the throat like that and not pull any punches,” Colohan says. “It’s definitely an insane moment to be living through, and for all the reasons that angry political or protest music was ever relevant, it’s urgently needed now.”
HARDCORE SUPERGROUP SUPREME- SECT
PHOTO: CHUCK JOHNSON
INTERVIEW WITH VOCALIST CHRIS COLOHAN BY JAMEZ ALVAREZ
D
esperate times call for desperate measures. While our country, world, and species face wildly uncertain times ahead, it’s no wonder that the fates have willed the wildly prophetic and abrasive music of SECT into existence. The hardcore supergroup features luminaries from bands like Earth Crisis, Fall Out Boy, Catharsis, Burning Love, and Cursed. Boasting a wicked pedigree and desire to simultaneously open eyes and shatter ear drums, SECT dropped
T
hree friends in love with crafting songs à la Motown decided to get together and create the contagious act that is Empty Houses. The Detroit based trio are riding behind the blast of energy that is Daydream, their debut LP released by Sargent House in June. What separates Empty Houses from most bands is their exceptional contrasting of sad, nostalgic lyrics with the bliss of upbeat swing pop. Pianist and composer Adam Mercer comments on that dichotomy, noting, “I love that kind of contrast. I feel it’s a little more interesting and unique.” This allows the songs to be sung and played honestly and the band to find new waves to keep structurally simple songs interesting and fun. This honesty embeds a familiarity in the 10 tracks on Daydream. When playing the songs, vocalist Ali Shea finds new ways to attach herself to each part. “I find something different about [playing
8 NEW NOISE
their crushing self-titled self-released debut record—with some help from their pals at Deathwish, Inc.—on Aug. 5. “I spent a summer on the road with [drummer] Andy [Hurley] when he played in Enabler, on a Southern Lord tour with Burning Love,” vocalist Chris Colohan says of SECT’s origins. “We got tight and talked about wanting to do something like this together. All the other guys in the band knew each other the songs] that feels like an emotive kind of thing, where you’re singing along and it’s super upbeat and fun and catchy, but it has this heartache to it,” Shea reflects. “I think that’s how a lot of people live their lives day-to-day.” In that sense, Empty Houses rally behind taking sad thoughts and finding a way to make them hopeful, pushing forward in the process. “Falling Away” is a tune that highlights infectious melodies unique and innate to Empty Houses’ songwriting, sprinkled with a hopeless optimism in the lyrics. Shea comments on the song, “It is such an upbeat thing, and it has a sense of all of these things that you want, but you don’t have in your life.” Empty Houses know how to step aside the usual and express themselves in other ways, with “Mercy” sitting smack in the middle of Daydream. The track is a jazzy tune without much of a kick to it. “That’s not the kind of stuff that I
through Earth Crisis—which [guitarist] Jimmy [Chang] and Andy have both played in—and other bands through the years, and they also wanted to do something new. The two just merged together into SECT.” “We’re all really far apart geographically, we don’t have the luxury of jamming out the evolution of every song,” Colohan continues. “It’s just a logistical juggle getting all our schedules lined up, but
PHOTO: RINA MOVSISYAN
In the wake of the violence and social unrest of this past July, SECT released a new song online entitled “Curfew.” “The song is a year old at this point,” Colohan shares, “written in the wake of Baltimore and Freddie Gray. But, there’s a new Freddie Gray every other night of the week at this point, so unfortunately, it is prescient. […] It’s really a matter of how many more people have to die before we realize that we’re missing the real conversation, which is about the protection of money and power over the well-being of people, and how much longer we want to dignify the entire system that racket belongs to.” Pick up SECT’s blazing debut album before society completely unravels. SECT is angry, passionate music for angry, impassioned times.
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SWINGIN' SADNESS- EMPTY HOUSES
INTERVIEW WITH ALI SHEA AND ADAM MERCER BY SEAN GONZALEZ normally write,” Mercer comments. The song’s jazzy piano chords were strung together even though Mercer wasn’t entirely sure what to do with them. Much akin to the band’s ability to continue for-
ward in spite of anything, a melody was attached to it—in part, thanks to guitarist Dave Mackinder’s persistence—and it became just one of the many highlights of this dazzling, dreamy album.
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