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Photo credit: Pax Martyn [Download Hi-Res]
“The band gels with the current musical moment without being bogged down by its idioms and cliches. Chorusy guitar, booming drums, and sensitive vocals reel you in with a poppy hook that remains somehow elusive. Fib avoids the hackneyed and the gimmicky while staying fun and unexpected.”
- POST-TRASH
“Skronky, off-kilter”
- STEREOGUM
“A healthy mix of power pop, shoegaze, and indie.”
- THE HARD TIMES
“Frenetic fretwork and acerbic time sig shifts dialed through avant-pop melodies”
- +RCMNDEDLISTEN
Philadelphia-based band Fib are excited to share their debut album, Heavy Lifting, available on CDs and digitally via the tastemaking Philadelphia label Julia’s War Recordings. A conversational rumination on the way love and understanding between people can be distorted, Heavy Lifting displays the band’s clever technical artistry and makes their somber wonderings feel wry and real.
LISTEN TO HEAVY LIFTING
This month’s release, “You Ruined Everything,” following “PS and “Mutuals,” marks the third single from Heavy Lifting, setting the precedent for the band’s shifting soundscape on their debut record. Through soft vocals and surges of accented acoustics, the band tells a story of how putting up an easy defense can isolate oneself from the world. The song’s mellow tone, as well as the implication of that self-protective tendency leading to strains and ends of multiple relationships and connections, renders its title less of an accusation and more of a lament. “Mutuals” is both catchy and experimental, acting as a defining opener to the record. “PS” sorts through a disjointed emotional connection and appropriately concludes with a frenetic instrumental breakdown.
Upon the announcement of Heavy Lifting, the founder of Julia’s War Recordings and bandleader of They Are Gutting A Body of Water Douglas Dulgarian said the following about Fib via Instagram: "Fib is free jazz in an era where everything else is getting more cookie cutter and snapped to the grid. And that’s what I love most about them. I never know what to expect. It’s completely unique and individual, and although you can certainly hear the influences, I am always completely knocked off-center when I hear or see what they’re creating. If you have ever seen Fib live, you can attest to the fact that it’s one of the most insane experiences possible. I can’t quite explain it and that feels good to know that I can’t."
LISTEN TO “YOU RUINED EVERYTHING”
LISTEN TO “MUTUALS”
LISTEN TO “PS”
WATCH THE “PS” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
Fib debuted in 2021 with a tape of their debut songs, featuring the fan-favorite track, “Bedside.” Heavy Lifting sees the band take their sound to the next level, trading lo-fi recordings for refined riffs while synthesizing post-punk sounds into poppy hooks. Fib is vocalist and guitarist Gage Nelson, guitarist Damien Nicholson, bassist Logan Adam and drummer Charlie Libby Watt, who wrote, recorded and produced Heavy Lifting together.
This weekend, Fib are hitting the road for a show in Brooklyn at Rabbit Hole and returning for a subsequent show at Philly’s MiniMart. For more information, follow Fib on Instagram (@fib_band) or see below.
FIB LIVE 2025
APRIL
25 - Rabbithole - Brooklyn, NY
26 - MiniMart - Philadelphia, PA
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