STILL SINGLE

A space for thoughts on music and culture, as written by Doug Mosurock and a select handful of individuals. This is intended as a supplement to our regular feature Still Single, published on Dusted Magazine. Updates will run here more frequently, and may feature writing on music not covered in the column. Compact discs are still not accepted for review -- we have more than enough vinyl and the occasional cassette to worry about.

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December 22, 2010

XBXRX – O 7” EP (Polyvinyl)

The world would be a shittier place had XBXRX never booked that first tour in 1999, leaving Mobile, Alabama in someone’s mom’s van and blowing minds through the backs of heads all over the country. I was lucky enough to see one of the first shows on said tour, my town of Memphis resting one long state’s length from their home. I was joined by what couldn’t have been more than five other standing patrons plus a table full of Fat Wreck Chords/Warped Tour water-heads. This band turned into a figure-eight bowtie wind of noise and bodies, very much in the neighborhood of a (much) more playful Flying Luttenbachers (high-pitched or screamed vocals have always been a constant … think Load Records-meets-Trumans Water) but unlike any noise band I could, or still can, reference from live memories. And they were YOUNG. Not even out of high school at the time of this inaugural tour, XBXRX had the drive, passion, balls, irreverence, and charm of an entire scene (they probably WERE Mobile’s entire scene). When it was clear the $5 Bottled Water fans were “not getting it” (only a matter of time…I believe I remember a wager based around how long these dipshits would be sticking around), the herd shuffled towards the door and received a tongue-lashing for the ages from the six tiny kids in weird matching faux-hazmat suits. “Seriously, nice shorts, No Use for a Name … what, ya keep all your musical ideas in those giant pockets?”

If someone had whispered “In ten years, XBXRX will be around, respected amongst the noise-nik cognoscenti, and on a rather professional label for most of their full-length discography” into my ear that night, my reaction would have been a fist into the air rather than one of disbelief. And here they are, not ten, but eleven years into the future with a 10-song 7” titled O and released by Polyvinyl. Like previous titles recorded at home or in a studio, this one barely begins to achieve the planet-aligning shit-storm that is this band live. All ten tracks are structured skronk with a heavy reliance on static-y noise. You know this band? You know what you’re in for. Probably prefacing a full-length soon, which of course, will serve as a souvenir from the live experience. Black vinyl. (http://www.polyvinylrecords.com)
(Andrew Earles)

1 year ago • 0 notes