Cold Beat - Chaos by Invitation (2017)

Named for a song by the Sound, Cold Beat is the post-punk-inspired project of Hannah Lew, also the bassist for San Francisco's acclaimed trio Grass Widow. Lew began writing Cold Beat songs in the late 2000s while working with Grass Widow and establishing herself as a filmmaker and visual artist; when the band decided to go on hiatus after releasing 2012's Internal Logic, Lew focused on Cold Beat in earnest (meanwhile, drummer Lillian Maring pursued her own project, Ruby Pins). She took Neon Piss guitarist Kyle King, Shannon & the Clams guitarist/synth player Cody Blanchard, and Maring into the studio; 2013's single Worms/Year 5772 was the first fruit of those sessions to be officially released on Lew's own Crime on the Moon label. Cold Beat returned in 2014 as a trio featuring Lew, King, and Erase Errata drummer Bianca Sparta; the band's debut album, Over Me, appeared that July. By the time the band's synth-tinged second album Into Air arrived in September 2015, the lineup featured Lew, King, drummer Susi Leni, and guitarist Jackson Blumgart. ~ Heather Phares