#eksi ekso

Eksi Ekso - Killing Texas

New and recent releases from Austra, Citizen Fish, Deafheaven, Gang Gang Dance, I Was Totally Destroying It, The Kills, Nader Sadek, Pet Shop&nbs

Deafheaven Roads to Judah Street: 04.26 Deathwish Inc. Deafheaven = Boris + Slowdive + Wolves in the Throne Room On paper, the combination of silky British shoegaze with the relentless clatter of Norwegian black metal seems awful … a foolish experiment in grasping at ’90s cultural touchstones. Regardless, this San-Fran power trio hacks it with spectacular results (and nary a hint of irony). Blanketed in chiming guitars and an understated swirling lushness, opening track “Violet” lulls the listener into a long, tranquil stupor before rousing them awake with a bursting bombast of rasping, black metal-fury. The album sustains this pattern seamlessly throughout its four dizzying tracks, dancing back and forth between breathy Slowdive-esque wonder and cacophonic explosions à la Burzum, varying in tempo but never losing its permeating ethereality. It’s an arduous aural journey, one that may discourage impatient listeners, but those who embrace its exhaustiveness will find it quite rewarding. Bewildering, primal and obstinately beautiful, this risky sonic experiment pays off. –Dylan Chadwick

Deep Sleep Turn Me Off Grave Mistake Street: 03.04  Deep Sleep = All + Verbal Assault + Chemical People Having released more 7”s than the Sub Pop Singles Club, Maryland’s melodious pop-creeps finally make the jump to full-length LP. Don’t be fooled by the extra 5”s of wax, though … this little bugger plays plenty fast and ends before you can say “Descendents worship.” More polished than previous records, Turn Me Off finds itself treading some familiar ground without being too derivative of their forbearers. Nick Vance’s urgent quasi-surf leads are more pronounced than ever, exploring new territory and fleshing out the songs while Mike Stearns’ tightly controlled, cymbal-heavy drumming keeps it all in check. Never shy about their influences (“Be with You” channels Milo Aukerman in a 50-second light-speed love song, and “Nothing Inside” features the unashamedly pilfered riff from “Rise Above”), nor willing to simply regurgitate, it’s endearingly catchy cuts like “Play Another” that showcase high caliber, melody-drenched punk done with brilliance. –Dylan Chadwick

Eksi Ekso Brown Shark Red Lion The Mylene Sheath Street: 03.15 Eksi Ekso = David Bowie + TV on the Radio + Q and Not U For being reduced from a six-piece to a trio, Boston’s Eksi Ekso sound anything but sparse on their sophomore release. Rife with tinkling pianos, warm brass, circuitous rhythms, and occasional flourishes of the orchestral and electronic varieties, the album projects a lofty aural vision and boasts its share of magnificent moments. “Carte de Viste” shimmers like electro-Mogwai and “14 for 3” showcases a stunning vocal harmony. It’s the complexity, however, that sometimes hinders the album, diluting its potential potency into something scattered and unfocused (“Kills of the Flood Tide”) and withholds it from breaking into the soaring coda it so desperately hints at. Still, it’s lyrically compelling (based loosely on the story of a missing 19th-century photographer); it exudes a keen grandeur, and its “can’t-quite-pin-me-down” sensibilities will appeal to many a post-rock weirdo … but a little streamlining would’ve done the trick as well, and for greater results. –Dylan Chadwick

Back in 2011, Eksi Ekso (pronounced X-E X-O)’s vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Tom Korkidis came to drummer Alex Mihm with the idea of creating an album based on two narrative perspectives — that of the victim, and that of the perpetrator. After several conversations, both Mihm and Korkidis started researching serial killers and victims throughout recorded history. Serendipitously, a friend, who had no idea they had been working on thematically, recommended that they read Erik Larson’s The Devil and the White City. The Devil and the White City details the absurd and yet true life story of infamous mass murderer H.H, Holmes (born Herman Edward Mudgett), as well as those of his victims, while deconstructing his myth.