Photo by James Webb
In 2006, Austin’s vibrant indie scene was just starting to go national, with veterans like Spoon and Okkervil River breaking outside the city limits and newcomers like Sound Team and Voxtrot earning significant buzz. Amidst this bright future came something much, much darker, and it was all there in the band’s name: I Love But I’ve Chosen Darkness. Fear Is On Our Side, the local band’s 2006 debut, wore its goth-pop influences proudly. It’s fitting that former Ministry bassist Paul Barker produced the record; ILYBICD sounded like heirs to Ministry’s shadowy throne.
But just as quickly as they burst onto the scene, ILYBICD soon retreated back into the darkness. Their second album was always “in the works,” with no release date in sight. Now, eight years later, the band returns with Dust. Once again produced by Barker, the record finds them painting in black hues, but they let in more sunshine this time around. “Faust” bursts out of the gate, throwing off the weight of expectations with a propulsive groove.
