XBXRX Wars   Label: Polyvinyl Release Date: 04/10/07

Oh man, this is just wrong. It seems Polyvinyl is taking a break from promoting the likes of Decibully and Of Montreal to bring you XBXRX. Despite being around for close to ten years, regardless of who drops their name and produces them, I think these guys fall flat with what seems to be a bad update of late 1970s no wave.

So on their most recent release, Wars, these guys are coming off like that band in your town who you can’t stand. Somehow they get on shows you’re at and you wonder, “Why the fuck?” We have a vocalist who yelps like grade school Cedric Bixler over noisy, agitated and mildly danceable music. Even the music a mild similarity to the freakouts found on an At the Drive In record, only if you blended it with a malfunctioning computer game. I can’t really take it seriously. The chaotic moods on this album sound so dated and forced, yet it gets them opening slots on Sonic Youth tour dates. To an untrained and inexperienced ear, you might think a bunch of artsy indie rocker types found a Das Oath record and sucked all the disgust and anger out of it. I also get the feeling that this sort of thing goes over well with reformed pop punk kids who wanted more challenging music and thought the Locust was the most amazing band ever, so they end up starting a band that sounds similar to XBXRX. There are many bands who pulled off the “weird guys with the off timing musicianship” thing way before XBXRX did.

Maybe if it wasn’t for the opening track, “Center Where Sight,” I probably would have gave this band more credit. Instead, that song reminds me of a carnival that I do not want to be at. Many of the songs on this have an odd garage rock guitar tone to it, but with more of an annoying feel. “Suffocation” comes off like an aerobics song gone to hell. “Eighth War” employs those start-stop manic and rapid rhythms which have been done to death and we all know that we’ve heard enough from previous accomplishments by early Dillinger Escape Plan recordings. Lyrically, some songs range from being stream of consciousness junkie poetry while others actually have a decipherable meaning, such as the anti-religious undertones on “Minds,” which comes off like a resignation set to a five year old’s loose translation of what metal should sound like. The closing track, “Ear Ever Hear,” might be the most engaging composition, bringing every idea presented previously back in a two minute swirl of insanity. .

Personally, I want to dismiss this as cacophonous clown shit. I imagine clown shit to be colorful with a lot of inspiration for ideas, but I’m reminded that it’s still fecal matter and it isn’t funny or engaging.

XBXRX - Center Where Sight

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 at 12:05 am and is filed under CD/LP. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.