Ix-Ex-Splue - Ix-Ex-Splue Album

Side one opens with "Mania" - a noisy, metallic backdrop of (I assume) guitar with drums holding the piece steady in a low, driving Gothic darkness while a SIOUXSIE-like vocalist (BABALU) adds contrasting shades of black. Midway through it slows down into an amorphous meander, fighting free of the BANSHEES comparison. "Inner Strives" is a looser, more Jazzy sound, yet the vocalist still has the tone & resonance of the First Lady Of Goth, dark, flat & strong. It's a slower, more freeform piece, yet remains interesting with lyrics your ears seek out. "Innocent Wood" has a mildly Rockabilly backing, blended & mutated into something more interesting, again having a thin, maybe skeletal mix with a loose, Jazz approach to composition. Lush sax & clanking guitar are left alone for long moments, joined then by stumpy, gawky, awkward drums. "Swan" is a faster piece, again having the ragged, slightly dangerous loose edge of freeform Jazz, a shaggy sound defying the urge to collapse into steaming chunks. "1356" has a lot more interesting sound (to me), a dense grunge of sound, short but enjoyable, with the vocalist surfing across the raw metal surface. "Great Crossbeam" picks the more dense sound up, having a structure akin to CAN meeting THE FALL & combining to form a Jazz group. It's fast & energetic, with sax & voice adding character to the guitar, drums & bass's dense backdrop.
Side two "Spicy Connection" sounds warmer than the robotic version on "Victims Of The Mixing Desk", a pulsating piece of music which is both catchy & danceable, sounding like a raw & ragged SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES again. "Halfway To Japan" has a strange sound, a slow piece surrounded by the usual instruments, but with something akin to samples adding interesting little dark motifs. Again a good piece with the vocalist sustaining in dirty Eastern wails, dark & keen edged. "Poultry's Swing On The Voltures Wing" (sic) is a great noisy thing with sustained noise & squealing saxophone introducing a Punk-like, FALL-like thrash out, manic & monsterous. "Ribboned Manes" familiar to those of you who have the "Knock Out" CD is a varying track with harsh, stridant pieces of strict-yet-chaotic structuring contrast against a more loose, floating sound. "I Cannot Err" again harkens back to early BANSHEES with wonderful rolling drums, a constant underfoot mat of guitar & the feedback-like sax offer an interesting foundation for the singer to try out a little different tonal sound, choosing the slightly-flat-yet-only-to-a-point-of-darkness sound heard throughout the album, yet pushing it a step further.

Interesting album which, while staying within the VISION sound, varies enough to reach outside the label's self-imposed limits.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.