FRIGS

Led by the commanding presence of frontwoman Bria Salmena, Toronto’s post-punk band Frigs generates material that hovers between seething intensity and trance-like pull. Salmena first connected with guitarist Duncan Hay Jennings during their time as students in Montreal. Once the pair relocated to Toronto, Jennings brought in his high-school acquaintance Lucas Savatti on bass. The group initially operated under the name Dirty Frigs, releasing a split EP with Spectre in 2013 and a self-titled EP in 2014 that mixed swampy 1950s rock textures, horror-movie motifs, and grungy guitars. Following those early recordings, the band paused to rework its approach. In 2016 they returned as Frigs, unveiling Slush, their debut EP for Arts & Crafts. Captured inside their apartment studio, the EP displayed a sleeker and more spacious sound that the band extended later that year on the single Chest/Trashyard, the first preview of their forthcoming album. Shaped over more than a year with engineer Ian Gomes, Basic Behaviour appeared on Arts & Crafts in February 2018.