My favorite thing about Fuiste is the trio’s willingness to immerse the listener in the unknown. While it’s virtually impossible to write about the band without mentioning their technical excellence or the complexity of their songwriting, the band’s greatest asset is their natural curiosity and disposition towards unique sounds and unorthodox song structures. “Fuiste has always been a genuine product of the three of us freely collaborating without any pretensions towards what the music should be or represent,” guitarist Saam Wilson told us in a 2017 interview, and it’s that freewheeling creativity which have made the threesome such a dynamic force to be reckoned with.
Although it was recorded in 2016, Fuiste’s new single, along with its accompanying video, continue their exploration of the intricate and unfamiliar. Indeed, “Calm, Cool, Collected” moves in alternating waves of pulsing ambience and spastic eruptions, channeling everything from Don Caballero and Slint to Hella and Tera Melos. The dominant aesthetic would definitely fall under math and progressive rock, but there are elements here of punk, shoegaze, emo, and post rock that filter their way in throughout the song and keep the listener from settling in too comfortably.
With that said, the group found an ideal partner in director Casey Doran whose grainy lo-fi approach brings an added quirkiness to the song’s relentless mutations. Doran’s work has always been predisposed towards eccentric narratives and surreal humor, and that’s certainly true of this video which merges bizarro suspense with campy horror. Overall it makes for one dizzying trip and a match made in oddball heaven.
Watch/listen above.
Fuiste’s first full length After You is due out this fall.
Fuiste will perform on Fri., Aug. 2 at the Practice Space alongside Nelward, TV Pole Shine, Salsa Chest, and ATL Space Quartet. Doors open at 7 p.m. $7 donation for touring band. All ages.
More Info
Bandcamp: fuiste.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @fuiste.atl
Instagram: @fuisteforeal
SoundCloud: @fuistepleasestay
Twitter: @fuiste_atl