Fort Ancient

I Believe in Tornadoes
By Shanti Sadtler

Fort Ancient‘s EP, I Believe in Tornadoes, shows a band with the potential and capability of writing songs that simultaneously make the audience dance, rock out, and feel a deep melancholy behind the eyes. “Can’t You See We’re the Optimists?” best showcases this, as the band channels New Order, but grasps at a unique identity. The song opens with a vibrant dance beat played on an ’80s-sounding keyboard. The band craftily finds an equilibrium to balance their electronic and rock counterparts, converging instead of dividing the two sounds. The result is a track that would work well in either a dance or rock club. The other three songs aren’t as dancey, but they still make use of the keyboard, ensuring that the EP doesn’t become divided. The tracks all open strong and polished, but many times (with the exception of “Can’t You See…”) become muddled when the different instruments don’t line up quite right towards the middle or end, making it sound like the members aren’t fully aware of each other, and threatening to deconstruct the foundation the band has built. Fortunately, in each instance, the band manages to pull it together and tighten and re-varnish the sound once more. Hopefully, Fort Ancient will find a waterproof seal so they won’t need to do any more touch-ups along the way.
(www.fortancient.com)