Every band is a story in the case of Los Angeles Failure, this is the sequel. Formed in 1990, Failure released three albums 1992s Comfort, 1994s Magnified and 1996s Fantastic Planet before breaking up in 1997. Fast forward to 2014: guitarist Ken Andrews, bassist Greg Edwards and drummer Kelli Scott are playing together in a room. Theyre easing back to old melodies, writing new ones and nurturing the pieces of what is Failures first album in nearly 20 years. For the most part it was our own world that we created, Edwards told LEO over the phone. I knew that if we just kept doing that same thing, having grown all this time and done other musical projects, I knew that it would be good.
That record, this years The Heart is a Monster is a focused segue for the trios absent years, though its more like a part two with its spacey allusions and links to early material, going beyond a reunion effort.
Failures active period was relentless, yet short-lived, marked by those aforementioned albums and tours with Tool that led to the side-projects Replicants and Lusk. Failure amassed a loyal following despite amassing drug problems within the band. Fantastic Planet secured them a place in alternative rocks forgotten fringe while time waited for Failures return.
Edwards was in New Orleans when we spoke. He had bought a paperback Salinger from the airport bookstore, and the environment and conversation inevitably steered to the sky. Outer space. That part of space is what drives a lot of what I do, he said. Being a human and having a total, rich experience as an individual. All these little concerns and fears, hope. Underlying all of that is really just the void. Nowhere to go from there, we said goodbye.
Failure will play Mercury Ballroom on Friday, August 7. Tickets are $18; show at 8:30 p.m.
This article appears in August 5, 2015.
