The Ex, 27 Passports, A Review (2018)

The Ex, 27 Passports, A Review (2018)

By: Erreh Svaia
Rock N Roll Animal

When people "denounce" the evils of globalization, I always think about music first, what would be of music evolution without globalization? Music is boundless and it becomes richer and richer by absorbing external influence, think of African music going to America and becoming blues, jazz and funk, becoming rock n roll or hip hop and then been exported to the whole world in an ever going process, beautiful, who else could exemplify this than the Netherlands' The Ex, one of favorite bands ever in possession of what could be one of the richest music tradition in the world and a defiant attitude to get along, a thinking man's punk rock not afraid of embracing paradoxical thinking, accepting themselves as citizens of the world, in eternal love with Ethiopian music and Sonic Youth's sound exploration in an equal way, and at the same time concerned about Europe's inner struggles and intercourse with the rest of the world.

No better band to carry the paradoxical way of thinking in the modern world, 27 Passports is the band newest musical adventure, and what a strange trip is this, Soon All Cities has the "desert" qualities of America's Horse With No Name or Marilyn Manson's Beautiful People, as the band lyrics are equally concerned about the world process of decaying homogenization process and at the same time exploring the chance of going somewhere else, looking at both sides of migration, as usual, with The Ex you get a powerful dose of African influenced red hot beats and SY's inspired guitar out of this world attack, as guitars either get hypnotic, ring all over and free generous apocalyptic noise bursts.

For The Heart Conductor the band dives headfirst into a kind of Sahara infected blues, or perhaps the mutant, disjointed blues of the mighty Captain Beefheart, as guitarists Andy Moore and Terry Hessels go from fiery abrasive anarcho punk riffs to spider web like melodies, all these while the great Katherina Bornefeld lays down some of the best polyrhythmic beats this side of Can or the Talking Heads, I must express my enormous admiration for Hessels jagged edge riffs that reminds me so much of my all-time favorite guitarist, the legendary Robert Quine, whose sprayed free form Pollock like inspired guitars give a unique quality to some of Lou Reed best solo records.

The greatest thing about The Ex is that they sound as if they were in a war against each other, as various apparently incongruous elements come together to give form to a superior master plan, as in This Car is My Guest that somehow reminds me of the unforgettable The Fall, with its passionate love for repetition and maniac vocal mantras, and then going into the Can like fierce tribal delivery of New Blank Document, a masterpiece of tension, suddenly changing their approach for the menacing post punk of Piecemeal, displaying wonderful free form, free jazz inspired guitars.

For Footfall, the influence of legendary krautrock band Can is more evident than ever, as the band carves a monumental pillar of sound with stubborn guitars and devastating motorik drumming in one of the best groove oriented pieces in the album, that after nearly 40 years and more than 25 albums shows the band hungrier and riskier than most music newcomers, 27 Passports is a record that shows a band still inspired and hungry, never satisfied and always open to new ideas and directions, never afraid of trying new things and with enough experience to always succeed despite taking so much risks, a resilient band brave enough to put skin in the game (as the great writer Nicholas Nassim Taleb recommends), like it should be.