Originally based in Portland but now calling Philadelphia home, fib is a band that has a sense of familiarity to their music but pushes off in unexpected directions. Their self-titled effort in 2021 took a post punk foundation and transformed it into a series of lo-fi songs that seemed to change by the minute. Sometimes this came through in a noisier, manic fashion while others had a bit more of a calmer, jangly sound. For their sophomore effort Heavy Lifting fib has continued to evolve, shedding its lo-fi approach in favor of a big, booming sound that emphasizes angular riffing and jagged basslines. It’s just as unpredictable as before, but there are more hooks woven into the writing that stick with you.
There remains a lot of post punk influence to fib’s music, but what makes them particularly exciting is that each of the nine songs head in different directions. Opener “Mutuals” has a bouncier flow for its first minute or so, with the rumbling base providing a foundation for the guitars to twist and turn over top of. The angular, free-flowing feel of the guitar work sometimes gives off some new and no wave influence as well as post punk, but you’ll also get hints of prog/math rock in the way that the band does their starts and stops and changes tempos. While the transitions can be abrupt, the way that the melodies are slung together makes them oddly catchy, making you want to nod your head along before getting whipped over to the next idea. The bigger, clearer production goes a long way in making these songs pop, as the guitar and bass shine equally and there are plenty of details that reveal themselves over time. Where a lot of post punk and no wave adjacent music has a noticeable jagged and more abrasive tone, fib keeps things a bit warmer and friendlier despite the off-kilter nature of their instrumentation. At times I’m reminded of the jangle/indie pop melodies of bands like Beach Fossils or mid-period Of Montreal but fused together with Devo. Tracks like “PS” even give off some 90s alternative rock/grunge energy for a brief moment, though it doesn’t take long before the script has been flipped and things are back to a more driving post punk tempo. Heavy Lifting is hard to pin down, but if you like the quirkier side of post punk and indie rock it won’t take long for the hooks to get under your skin. I also appreciate the sub half-hour run-time, as fib packs a lot of ideas into each song but never lets anything linger for longer than it needs to.
There may be some quirkier and jagged tones to some of the instrumentation, but the vocals stick more on the mellow end of the spectrum. This is another area where fib gives me hints of bands like Of Montreal despite their core sound being fundamentally different, as Gage Nelson sounds pretty close to Kevin Barnes at certain points. When I say that I mean the mellower, dreamier tones rather than the falsetto freak-outs some Of Montreal material is known for, which gives Heavy Lifting this chill and almost detached feel at certain points. There are a few variations on songs like “Pictures” where the singing becomes sharper and has some almost quick spoken word elements interspersed, which brings more 80s bands to mind. Like the instrumentals, fib’s vocals have subtle variations that inject new things just when you think you have everything figured out.
Fib’s music is quirky and unpredictable, but the way everything flows makes for some infectious moments. It has the angular and sudden shifts of post punk and no wave, but there’s a considerable amount of indie pop/rock as well as everything from shoegaze to prog sprinkled in, giving the material a sound of its own. It’s hard to get that balance between complexity and accessibility, but fib has done just that and this makes their sophomore effort another 2025 highlight. Heavy Lifting is available from Julia’s War Recordings.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg