Activity

Brooklyn's Activity fuse post-punk with electronics in ways that fluidly dissolve distinctions between foreboding and reassuring atmospheres. Their debut album Unmask Whoever, issued in 2020, extended the inventive legacy established by members' prior outfits Grooms and Russian Baths through its bold sonic experiments; Spirit in the Room from 2023 then evoked life's fleeting character and experiences of grief via an ethereal fusion of trip-hop and dream pop.

After Brooklyn indie unit Grooms disbanded in mid-2018, that group's drummer Steve Levine and vocalist/guitarist Travis Johnson sought to keep creating together. They brought in Russian Baths guitarist Jess Rees along with Field Mouse's Zoe Browne, both acts having earned their admiration during shared bills with Grooms. Browne took up bass for the first time while Johnson incorporated samples and electronics, and the quartet began jamming in September 2018, drawing from Broadcast, Beak>, Can, and Talk Talk to shape an introspective yet exploratory approach. By February 2019 they were appearing live under the name Activity. Soon afterward the band entered the studio alongside Psychic TV's Jeff Berner to capture their first full-length. Released in March 2020 on Western Vinyl, the label formerly associated with Grooms, Unmask Whoever emerged amid the peak of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Activity kept composing and tracking throughout those difficult months. In lockdown they developed minimalist pieces rooted in samples and drum machines and shaped by personal bereavements plus the era's pervasive tension. Once more helmed by Berner, Spirit in the Room from 2023 highlighted the disorienting dimensions within Activity's blend of noise rock and electronics and marked their initial release featuring bassist Bri DiGioia.