Doesn't Exist II: The Complete Recordings (3xLP+7") (Vinyl)

Fang Island, formed by Rhode Island School of Design students Jason Bartell, Chris Georges, Pete Watts, and Phil Curcuru, was founded on the philosophy of celebrating life's small victories with high-fives. This infectiously positive approach became their defining characteristic, blending elements of '80s metal, day-glo hardcore, and an exuberant cheerleading vibe into a sound they described as "everyone high-fiving everyone." At a time when the belligerent noise-rock of Lightning Bolt and The Body defined Providence, Fang Island played major-key guitar harmonies and flashy tapping riffs. When people tried to call them “math-rock,” they thought of themselves as “recess rock.” Fang Island shared bills with uber-buzzy bands like Yeasayer and Chairlift at Cake Shop and Santos Party House, crucibles for Brooklyn hype at the turn of the aughts; but their most impactful co-sign came from Andrew WK. At least until Fang Island earned an unexpected Best New Music review at Pitchfork; in the style of the time, the group - now including drummer Marc St. Sauver and guitarist Nick Sadler - were thrust from playing “literally empty shows” at hot dog stands in Ohio to becoming the toast of SXSW and starting their North American tour with psych-rock idols the Flaming Lips in an Atlantic City casino. They would later play sprawling amphitheaters with Stone Temple Pilots, and in perhaps the best demonstration of their ability to wield pop smarts to guitar pyrotechnics, both Matt & Kim and Coheed & Cambria. Doesn't Exist II: The Complete Recordings, serves as a comprehensive celebration of Fang Island’s playful and energetic style, from the the triple-tracked guitarmonies that fade in from the sound of fireworks on “Careful Crossers,” “the “Jack and Diane”-style acoustic riff that splits “Sideswiper” in half, the organ drone on “Daisy,” the wah-wah guitars of “Sisterly,” the country-fried licks of “Dooney Rock.” This collection captures the band’s distinctive approach to music, where anything that made them laugh was considered a success. Fang Island are self-admittedly nostalgic people, so it’s fair play if this vinyl reissue brings you back to a very specific period of indie aesthetics - the Dirty Laundry interview series, tall cans of Sparks Ultra, The Buried Life, Daytrotter, Billboard Heatseekers. But Fang Island’s music has been reanimated by a subsequent decade where their one-of-one output now sounds prescient - in 2012, Japandroids began their album with a recording of fireworks and created a genre name that would soon encompass Fang Island: “celebration rock.” As one of the first hits on Sargent House, Fang Island helped establish one of the label’s core tenets of hyper-melodic, technically proficient prog that included Tera Melos and TTNG. Meanwhile, if a record with as much finger-tapping and gang vocals as Fang Island were released in 2024, it’d be the toast of fifth-wave emo. But even if the whole of indie rock has caught up to the sound of Fang Island ten years after the fact, well…as divisions are driven deeper than ever, the spirit of “everyone high-fiving everyone” will forever remain insurgent.

602309899967

• Format: Vinyl
• Label: Joyful Noise Recordings
• Box Set: Boxset
• Genre: Indie Rock