Limited edition UK version: "400 Copies, Hand Numbered, w/ Pull Out Poodle Cover Poster - Aqua Blue, Electric Blue and Bone Galaxy Style Tri Colour blend" Vinyl & Special Bonus Package Only EXEK – Primer CD…For all you pampered poms!"
Surprise surprise, a new Exek record less than a year after the last, one of 2021's best. The band's recent interview with the Quietus tells me that Advertise Here was actually recorded before Good Thing They Ripped Up The Carpets, which makes a little more sense of why the latter was only granted a local/import release. This latest one arrives courtesy of John Dwyer's Castleface imprint, and though it may be pure coincidence, has a slightly more psychedelic feel that's in keeping with their new home. The vocals of band leader, Albert Wolski, have often had a surrealist, stream-of-conscious like quality to them, but here they sound almost dream-like, the product of fever dream paranoia and absurdist pop culture imagery. The words, as always, are a huge appeal, some, such as those on (I'm After) Your Best Interest, even appearing to foretell pandemic pain/idiocy - that same tQ article states that the album was written before Covid struck. A remote viewing of the future and guess what? It was bleak as expected. PIL remain an obvious touchstone, and the krautrock of Conny Plank and Neu colour the outer-edges of its composition, though it's early solo Eno that seems the main point of difference here. Album centrepoint, Sen Yen for 30 Min of Violin, might be Exek's best moment yet, six sci-fi minutes of winding horror and slowly emerging motorik groove, undercut with Wolski's deadpan delivery of cultural disappointment, which then segues seamlessly into the Beak>-like Beyond Currency. Five albums in and few signs of being bettered. Hopefully the associations with Dwyer & co bring them wider recognition. And a final heads up - look out for an Inner World mix from the band next week
