Ryan Patterson’s old Louisville punk band Coliseum reunited last year, and now they’re back in action. But Patterson is still making music as Fotocrime, the post-punk project that he started after Coliseum broke up. (Fotocrime is supposedly a band, but it’s really just Patterson and whoever else happens to be with him.) Last month, Patterson paid tribute to the late Steve Albini, a former collaborator, by covering Big Black’s “Crack Up.” Today, he’s shared a Fotocrime original.

The new Fotocrime song “Cautious” might not be a Big Black cover, but it’s got the same kind of scabrous intensity. Patterson recorded with a drum machine rather than a real drummer, just like Big Black, and he’s joined by members of Modern Life Is War and Shitfire. It’s a stark, heavy song. Here’s how Patterson describes it:

As happened in the ’80s, the current post-punk and darkwave climate has become infected with watered-down techno and ineffectual imitations that have nothing to do with the spirit of exploration and breaking of boundaries that inspires me. While I’ve loved delving into the softer side of my songwriting, and I’m sure I will go down that path from time to time, with “Cautious” I felt a strong pull to swing the hammer a bit harder than on any past Fotocrime song.

Check it out below.

Fotocrime play Louisville’s Planet Of The Tapes tonight, and a flexi single of “Cautious” b/w “Crack Up” will be handed out there.