Fault Lines

The fact that Fault Lines evolved out of local garage-pop group the Angry Orts (the Orts are no more, but founding guitarist Arron Ettlin and singer Sara Hernandez both made the jump) puts me at ease. Their amazingly catchy debut album Tapes and Wires would be a terrifying statement from a newly formed band, but given the history here, it's merely scary good. 'Kirstie Alley' opens the album with a crunchy guitar riff that paves the way for Hernandez's sweeping vocals and sincere lyrics, which shine the entire length of the album. Larry Crane, who produced the album here in town at Jackpot! Recording, can add yet another exceptional voice to a roster that already includes Corin Tucker and Jenny Lewis (both spring to mind upon hearing Tapes and Wires). We're halfway into 2013 and Fault Lines have just issued one of the finest releases of the year. - The Portland Mercury

Sporting thick, neon-bright guitars and a booming vocalist in the Beth Ditto mold, Fault Lines is a garage band that sounds much too big to fit in an actual garage. Portland usually doesn't take kindly to that sort of outsized ambition, but the group's debut, Tapes and Wires, is too hooky to ignore. It's a classic example of making nice tires without reinventing the wheel: You've heard these exuberantly winsome power-pop melodies before, but they still stick in your heart. And with frontwoman Sara Hernandez belting them out, those melodies nearly transform into a force of nature. - Willamette Week

One of the years most explosive and hard-hitting garage-pop albums, Tapes and Wires, is here, and strikes with enough lo-fi rawness and echoing guitar riffs to last a life time. And then some. Brought to us by Fault Lines, a four-piece hailing from Portland, Oregon, this debut successfully manages to combine tumultuous attitude and an unpolished, grungy sound, with hard-to-shake hooks and catchy melodies; that’s no easy feat, and aside from equally attitude ridden rockers Dum Dum Girls, Fault Lines are unique in the success of this accomplishment. After watching a live performance by the punky quartet at a local venue, and in an effort to translate the vigour and dynamism of their gigs into a recorded collection of material, Larry Crane invited the band to his studio where, in October 2012, ‘Tapes and Wires’ well and truly came to life. Verve-ridden, energy-loaded and chaos-spewing, this album smashes everything from melancholy lust to fierce tunes of resistance and ‘cigarettes and cheap wine’, all within its 12 short tracks. If Aaron, Matthew, Emily and lead vocalist Sara are even half as energetic in the flesh as on ‘Tapes and Wires’, then the unity of Crane and the group has been victorious; the power of their musicality has been captured.

The combination of melodic backing vocals, bare drum beats, scuzzy guitar-loops and the stand-out lyricism and vocal capacity of Sara Hernandez, make songs like album opener ‘Kirstie Alley’, and ‘Tapes n Wires’, scream rock n roll revival. In terms of remarkable front women, Hernandez is up there with the best; think Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Karen O’s loveable idiosyncrasies, or Gossip and the ferociousness and larger than life charisma of Beth Ditto. Her tuneful croon and painfully honest lyricism in songs such as ‘Basin’, where she sings “I’m gonna change my ways, one day at a time”, make the songs relatable, rarely found in such noisy, neo-funk tracks. With huskiness akin to that of Debbie Harry, and the support of a lullaby-like set of backing vocals, Hernandez’s tone is truly captivating. Even in angrier tracks like ‘A Side of Sugar’, which, by the way, is a 3 and a half minute long, guitar-laden tale of alcohol-fuelled debauchery, broken up only by mind-blowing guitar riffs, her voice has the ability to make listeners stand to attention.

This album, however, isn’t all noise pop haziness and nihilistic, punk attitudes. While to an extent the four-piece’s debut album takes a leaf out of Tommy Ramones’ book, giving us a level of pure, stripped down, ‘no bullshit rock n roll’, Fault Lines are by no means a one-trick pony, and have an inescapably lugubrious edge. Poignant and heart-felt track ‘Harden My Heart’, embodies the band’s delicacy, and displays with precision their elusive guitar-lines and gentle vocal abilities, without losing an ounce of hard-edged attitude. Similarly, ‘Shadow’, in which Hernandez pleads with some enigmatic, unknown entity to “tell me I’m the one”, is unexpectedly touching, coupling quietly gentle drumming with earthy, near-acoustic guitar chords to create an unrivaled level of sentiment.

All in all, Tapes and Wires is a plethora of emotions and sounds, and quite astoundingly provides us with a myriad of listening experiences throughout its dozen tracks. With a thematically all-inclusive scope, featuring everything from punchy, guitar-based, garage-pop beauties, to rather unexpected ethereal wonders, this debut makes for a highly absorbing listen. - Gold Flake Paint

The Angry Orts are ditching the old moniker and starting afresh as Fault Lines. The name change is a result of new band members, a honed new sound and a forthcoming new album.

Fault Lines includes original members Aaron Ettlin (guitar), Matthew Hernandez (drums) and Sara Hernandez (vocals) along with new members Emily Seabroke (bass) and Molly Wiltshire (backing vocals, auxiliary instrumentation). Emily recently moved to the states from Newberry, Berkshire, UK and teaches at the Rock‘n’Roll Camp for Girls. Molly is a Portland area native who is currently pursuing a degree in Media Arts and Animation. Her voice naturally compliments Sara’s since the two are sisters.

The band’s debut album under the new name will be recorded at Jackpot! Recording Studio and engineered by Larry Crane whose credits include Sleater-Kinney, The Thermals, Gossip and many more. Tracking for the new album will begin in October 2012 with an album release event intended for spring/summer 2013. A video for a soon-to-be-released single is also currently in the works.

Fault Lines’ first show under the new name is on Thursday, July 12 at Holocene for bePortland's 1st anniversary party. Also playing: Support Force and Animal Eyes. Show Details: $6 at the door, 21+. Free beer from Burnside Brewing will be provided while supplies last. Raffle of over $1,000 of free stuff (free raffle ticket with door cost). Plus: merch, info and treats from: Banana Stand Media, Apes Tapes, PDX Pop Now!, Research Club, Hungry Hearts Cupcakes, Tapalaya, Brewvana and more! - bePortland

Fantastic, a batch of killer songs! - Skyler Norwood - Miracle Lake Studios; Producer of Blind Pilot, Horse Feathers

Fault Lines’ “Tapes and Wires” is a combination of straight-ahead rock and unexpected layers of percussion, harmony, and dynamics. The rhythm section generates incessant momentum. Sara Hernandez channels equal parts Grace Slick and Debbie Harry while effortlessly sharing the limelightwith soaring guitar lines. Highlights include: “Kirstie Allie,” “Everything You Want,” and “Sedition.” - Garrett Haines - Treelady Studios; Senior Contributor, TapeOp Magazine

Rocking the house, dancing your ass off. This is what you want and this is what you get with Fault Lines. A blend of hard-edged pop and sweet songs of longing. I want to be asked to join this band. - Dennise Kowalczyk - 1071 FM KZME Radio

ART PARTY—Tonight's bash celebrates the first birthday of a local culture website I've never used (beportland.com)—but the reason for the party doesn't matter, because the lineup looks great: music by Fault Lines and Animal Eyes, plus art-smarties Research Club are curating performances. Go ahead and crash it! - Portland Mercury

[MANICURED PUNK] Just for clarity’s sake: The Angry Orts are no more. The old Portland guitar-rock group added Emily Seabroke and Molly Wiltshire for a more robust, vocally dominant sound, and the group is now known as Fault Lines. An album is due next spring, and it's engineered by Larry Crane, who has worked with genre siblings Sleater-Kinney and the Thermals. Tonight's show is part of BePortland’s first anniversary party, fit with free Burnside Brewing beer (while supplies last). Drink up and kindly request Fault Lines’ stellar cover of Quarterflash’s “Harden My Heart.” - Willamette Week