Extracting the Noise from the Signal

postpunk:

XEX - Kitty

Minimal synth meets barbershop vocals with a helping of Tom and Jerry-worthy cartoon violence for good measure—oh the adventures of searching for “post punk” on Youtube. XEX were a minimal synth band from New Jersey who released only one album, 1980’s group:xex. (For more info, see this super extensive biography.)

I can hear strains of the American weirdoism Devo or B-52’s but musically we’re in a totally different realm. The out-of-place, out-of-time quality of the music has added to Xex’s mystique, and group:xex has appreciated accordingly—I’ve seen “classic” thrown around a few times, whatever that means for a genre like minimal synth. (And since there’s no way to buy the 2004 reissue online: Mutant Sounds.)