#116
1980 Housekeeping
xex
Group: xex
Genre: Electronic DIY
5 out of 5
Highlights:
Fashion Hurts
Rome on $5 a Day
St. Vitus Dance
Holland Tunnel
Kitty
Delta Five
As a kid I used to read the Newark Star-Ledger. In retrospect it was sort of weird that we got the daily newspaper since I have absolutely no memory of either parent ever curling up with it. I would head straight for the most important section: arts. (Well, after comics and tv listings)
One Sunday there was a review of an album by a weirdly named band from New Jersey, Xex, that was so effusive it was impossible for me to forget. Except that I did.
And I called the newspaper a few months later. And spoke to the critic.
“There was a review of band from New Jersey that was so great—“
And I called the newspaper a few months later. And spoke to the critic.
“There was a review of band from New Jersey that was so great—“
“Xex. Love that album. It’s great.”
And it was neatly tucked into my brain. And that was that.
Until a year later.
My parents had a kiosk in the now-defunct Union Marketplace, a one-time supermarket that had been emptied and converted into a series of shops. Ours was one of the very first and it was my weekend home. Nearby was a record store that I never frequented. Why bother? There was a GREAT used record store right across from my parents’ stall.
But, went I did and I happened to find Romeo Void’s It’s a Condition, an album that alllllmost made this list. But it was edged out by this find.
How this was in the bin and I happened to see it is a miracle but I got it and I listened to the shit out of this record.
And it was neatly tucked into my brain. And that was that.
Until a year later.
My parents had a kiosk in the now-defunct Union Marketplace, a one-time supermarket that had been emptied and converted into a series of shops. Ours was one of the very first and it was my weekend home. Nearby was a record store that I never frequented. Why bother? There was a GREAT used record store right across from my parents’ stall.
But, went I did and I happened to find Romeo Void’s It’s a Condition, an album that alllllmost made this list. But it was edged out by this find.
How this was in the bin and I happened to see it is a miracle but I got it and I listened to the shit out of this record.
First off, it’s funny. “Kitty” is one of the more hilarious tunes I had heard up to that point (second, really to, Phil n’ the Blanks’s “My Vasectomy”…oh, gimme a break, I was a kid). But Group:Xex is more than just a piffle of a self-produced electronic new wave record. Led by Waw Pierogi & Thumbalina Gugielmo I’ll just quote the re-release blurb from some website:
“Performed entirely on then-state-of-the-art Arps, synths and electronic drums – no guitars anywhere – group: xex aims for the future, but comes across now like a time capsule from the deepest, darkest Reagan years. Each song burrows its way into your head with repetitive, undeniably catchy synth lines and vocal chants. “SNGA” (“Soviet Nerve Gas Attack”), “Cops” and “Delta Five” are doomy evocations of Cold War tension not far removed from very early Devo. But they were also capable of being quirky and whimsical. On “Fashion Hurts,” “Svetlana” and “St. Vitus Dance,” Waw and Thumbalina come across like a primitive B-52s, replacing the dance/party vibe with resignation and cynical humor. group: xex doesn’t sound like it’s from New Jersey. It barely sounds like it’s from Earth. However, there’s a certain residual murkiness that subliminally evokes the Central Jersey working-class suburbs.
“Performed entirely on then-state-of-the-art Arps, synths and electronic drums – no guitars anywhere – group: xex aims for the future, but comes across now like a time capsule from the deepest, darkest Reagan years. Each song burrows its way into your head with repetitive, undeniably catchy synth lines and vocal chants. “SNGA” (“Soviet Nerve Gas Attack”), “Cops” and “Delta Five” are doomy evocations of Cold War tension not far removed from very early Devo. But they were also capable of being quirky and whimsical. On “Fashion Hurts,” “Svetlana” and “St. Vitus Dance,” Waw and Thumbalina come across like a primitive B-52s, replacing the dance/party vibe with resignation and cynical humor. group: xex doesn’t sound like it’s from New Jersey. It barely sounds like it’s from Earth. However, there’s a certain residual murkiness that subliminally evokes the Central Jersey working-class suburbs.
group: xex was all but forgotten until 1998, when radio DJ Tom Smith discovered it in the WFMU music library and tracked down the band members, which lead to a CD reissue in 2004 on Smack Shire Records. Just in time for the 30th anniversary of group:xex Dark Entries tracked down Waw Pierogi and restored the original master tapes with George Horn who remastered the tracks for vinyl at Fantasy Studios. All copies include a 16 page zine with never before seen photos, lyrics, bios, press releases as well as an original concert invitation from 1980!”
What I would give for that reissue.
I played the crap out of this album. It followed me to college. It is in the record case now. I found the files online somewhere. It’s been on every music player I have ever owned. Aside from Gary Numan’s 2nd, 3rd & 4th albums, I never paid much mind to all synth music (remember Queen? “No synths!!” It’s also on my band’s album. No Synths!) but it was the droning humor, the ironic detachment, the raw simplicity of this DIY record from a bunch of kids in New Jersey resonated with a kid who spent his teenage years not really thinking he fit in at all.
I played the crap out of this album. It followed me to college. It is in the record case now. I found the files online somewhere. It’s been on every music player I have ever owned. Aside from Gary Numan’s 2nd, 3rd & 4th albums, I never paid much mind to all synth music (remember Queen? “No synths!!” It’s also on my band’s album. No Synths!) but it was the droning humor, the ironic detachment, the raw simplicity of this DIY record from a bunch of kids in New Jersey resonated with a kid who spent his teenage years not really thinking he fit in at all.
Here’s a video of Xex live in 1981.
https://youtu.be/uR_5R1-ymSE
https://youtu.be/uR_5R1-ymSE
And here’s the link to record.
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