Review Revue: The Ex - Aural Guerrilla

I have loved Dutch punk gods The Ex since seeing them open for American punk gods Fugazi way back in nineteen-ought-ninety-something. The sheer, gleeful energy they bring to their discordant, blissfully ragged music is something that truly needs to be beheld live. The records I own of theirs are fantastic, but they can't quite approximate the intense joy of witnessing The Ex live. Fortunately they are a band that provides many opportunities for that experience, having played, as of the end of 2014, 1765 live shows, 1169 of which were outside of their home country. (You've got to love a band that provides such a dense trove of statistics.)

I was sad to read that they had to miss one show here in 1991; they were supposed to play the OK Hotel, but it was "Cancelled because 'all bands are on holiday, we can't borrow equipment.'" I bet some of these KCMU-ers were bummed about that one.

"The Ex are a great band. Dutch hardcore type stuff that's more interesting and creative than the average hardcore band. You can definitely hear the Crass influences."

"Yes the Crass sound is apparent!"

"Don't be put off by the posters that come w/this that look like they were cloned from various Dead Kennedys LPS or the dull, cliched lyrics of many of the songs - there is some music worth listening to here. The Ex occasionally can do a good job of shoving some cacophony + interesting lyrics in your face (1.4, 2.2, 2.5). L, maybe."

"N-Butt" [I have no idea what this means.]