27 Passports is the first “regular” full-length the band has released since 2010’s Catch My Shoe, filling that eight year gap with seven-inches and a series of musical exchanges with Ethiopian musicians. The lineup has barely fluctuated – original guitarist Terrie Hessels and percussionist-singer Katherina Bornefield anchoring the band to its 70s-80s roots, with guitarist Andy Moor still flailing since 1990. Arnold de Boer replaced founder/vocalist G. W. Sok in 2009, and has filled that role since.
A slight shiver of anxious anticipation can accompany the first listen of a band that has spewed political and societal critique with a fanged ferocity for decades; while age and maturity are corkscrews to be cherished, comparing the bite of a young Talking Heads song to the reserved puddle of 21st century David Byrne can leave a fan gasping for caffeine. But more in the vein of the late Mark E. Smith, The Ex bring age and experience into the experimentation, and their barks at capitalism and humanity are still powerful.
These songs wrap the listener within the disjointed riffs and Bornefield’s unpredictable rhythms that the band has been creating so well for years, driving with the sounds of frustration and moody shake that reawakens even moments from albums like 1985’s Pokkeherrie. “This Car is My Guest” showcases de Boer’s dissonant vocal lines over a drive of plunging guitar. “New Blank Document” plays with that odd and off timing, becoming a march of spasmodic walks, with the strings acting like both a down-stroked pummel and a muted plucked harp simultaneously until a robotic trance of verses settle into a pulpy discordant blast.
- Brian Manley
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Arnold de Boer - Vocals, guitar, claps
Terrie Hessels - Guitar
Katherina Bornefeld - Drums, vocals
Andy Moor - Guitar, baritone guitar
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Recorded at Electric Monkey Studio, Amsterdam, by Kasper Frenkel. October 16 &17, 2017
Artwork & Lay-out: Emma Fischer
Photos: Andy Moor
