SOUNDTRACK: XERXES-“Collision Blonde” (3 tracks) (2104).
Xerxes has a very cool early 80s gothy sound–a sort of Joy Division/early Cure vibe. Their twist is that their singer is a kind of screamy punk (like early 80s hardcore bands). I admit I’m old and I don’t love the screamy vocals as much as I used to (but as a throwback, it’s pretty cool). And yet, I find the juxtaposition of that sort of mopey goth music coupled with an aggressive punk singing style.
You can hear the title track to their forthcoming release, “Collision Blonde’ on NPR at Viking’s Choice. This song is a bit longer than the other two. It has more ringing guitars and really brings out those Cure influences. The longer song allows them a little more freedom to explore, too.
There are two songs on their Soundcloud page. Chestnut Street” has a much faster tempo, but it keeps that great ringing guitar sound. It also offers some interesting tempo changes and a great bass section. I also love the bass sound in “Exit 123.” It’s got a great buzzy guitar attached to it as well.
This band also fills in that oft-lacking “X” category on your iPod.
[READ: June 13, 2014] “The Largesse of the Sea Maiden”
This is a story in several parts (with titles for each section) but which all work together to tell a complete story.
It opens very strangely with a dinner party in which an amputee tries to get a woman to kiss his stump. She can’t bring herself to do it, although several days after the party they begin dating. But the story is not about them, it’s about the host of the party and his wife, Elaine. For in the next scene, we see them at a party at a wealthy man’s house. When the narrator tells the wealthy man who his beautiful expensive painting shouldn’t be over the fireplace, (it might get warped from the heat), he threatens to burn it–rumor has it he has threatened this before. And yet what if no one stops him this time?
The narrator works as an ad man. It’s likely we’ve seen his ad–it was quite famous and won an award. Well he is getting the award now, even though the ad ran many years ago. He is traveling to New York for the award. But he is stressed about the whole thing, so he goes to the doctor where the entire staff is dressed for Halloween. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 