EXP

EXP     “EXP”

By: Lord Randall

When you see the names COP SHOOT COP and LUBRICATED GOAT in a “current/former members of” PR blurb – to say nothing of the legend-making SWANS – there’s a certain level of gritty beauty and off-kilter quality that’s expected… nay, demanded. And that demand goes both ways, as those three bands have built careers on challenging their listeners, both stylistically and lyrically over decades. Now crawls from the gutter EXP with its self-titled debut, and woe be unto the unprepared. 

Opening with the bombed-out groove of “Havoc On The Astral”, the sound is more reined in than those familiar with the above bands would expect, but there’s still the feeling that things could go off the rails (in a good way) at any moment. There’s a definite Bob Mould vibe in the vocals of J. Natz, for sure, with a bit of AGENT ORANGE surf thrown in for kicks. “Billy’s Mask” is a THE GUN CLUB / FLAT DUO JETS creeper replete with Bloody Rich Hutchins’ insanely in the pocket drumwork and lyrics that could’ve come from “Kicking Against The Pricks” era NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS. 

After a darkly-dreamy “Isle Of Skye”, “Hey Kid” steals into view wearing a tattered Ask Questions Later t-shirt, bottom-heavy and slink-slithering its way into “Radiant One”, an instrumental shoegaze both robust of tone and deft in execution. We’re barely halfway in, and already deep in the trip, boyos and girls, yo, so let’s get hip to the no-wave of “New Gravity”, not too far from what I’d imagine JIM CARROLL BAND pulling off these days if its namesake were breathing earthly air. 

The funked-up basement blues of “Too Far Gone” reeks of MORPHINE backing TOM WAITS circa “Bone Machine”, and “Speed Of Light” keeps that blue flame burning, while “Cecil’s Room” conjures DINOSAUR JR. in moments of its lo-fi shimmer. Ending with the noise-blanketed “Strange Fluctuations”, EXP may be the most inherently tuneful project any of its members have been involved with, but it’s also the better for it. Hide and watch, EXP might end up on a few Top 10 lists this year.

REPTILIAN RECORDS