In The Red
EX-CULT - Negative Growth LP
$33.95
Includes download code.
"Ex-Cult capture the intensity of their live show exceedingly well, keeping things fast and aggressive while balancing the fore and background of the album’s sound.
This balance is particularly important for keeping the album musically interesting without falling prey to the self-indulgence that could otherwise flatten the elements that Negative Growth borrows from psych rock. Instead of a rising, concentrated wall of sound that we might expect from such a densely layered track, “New Face On,” the album’s high-point, showcases an emotional, entropic, horn-laden mayhem with nudges towards Flipper’s “Sex Bomb”. On “Panic in Pig Park,” Shaw sings staccato verses between rumbling drone interludes in a back and forth that embodies the anxiety and menace of L.A.
Shaw’s vocal duties on Negative Growth are something to behold – again, they point towards the fury of live performance. Shaw also sings lead in GØGGS with the man who recorded Negative Growth, Ty Segall, a musician who’s become increasingly central in L.A.’s alternative music scene. Released earlier this summer, Emotional Mugger, Ty Segall’s latest release, was accompanied by a series of unsettling promo and theatrical live sets that are, essentially, performance art. If we consider the way good quality concert footage and live TV performances (Ty Segall and the Muggers, as they’re now known, have played sets on Conan and Colbert) have taken on a new significance in a band’s touring schedule, there’s reason to believe we’re seeing an important turn towards performance." - Josh Gabert-Doyon (Northern Transmissions)
"Ex-Cult capture the intensity of their live show exceedingly well, keeping things fast and aggressive while balancing the fore and background of the album’s sound.
This balance is particularly important for keeping the album musically interesting without falling prey to the self-indulgence that could otherwise flatten the elements that Negative Growth borrows from psych rock. Instead of a rising, concentrated wall of sound that we might expect from such a densely layered track, “New Face On,” the album’s high-point, showcases an emotional, entropic, horn-laden mayhem with nudges towards Flipper’s “Sex Bomb”. On “Panic in Pig Park,” Shaw sings staccato verses between rumbling drone interludes in a back and forth that embodies the anxiety and menace of L.A.
Shaw’s vocal duties on Negative Growth are something to behold – again, they point towards the fury of live performance. Shaw also sings lead in GØGGS with the man who recorded Negative Growth, Ty Segall, a musician who’s become increasingly central in L.A.’s alternative music scene. Released earlier this summer, Emotional Mugger, Ty Segall’s latest release, was accompanied by a series of unsettling promo and theatrical live sets that are, essentially, performance art. If we consider the way good quality concert footage and live TV performances (Ty Segall and the Muggers, as they’re now known, have played sets on Conan and Colbert) have taken on a new significance in a band’s touring schedule, there’s reason to believe we’re seeing an important turn towards performance." - Josh Gabert-Doyon (Northern Transmissions)
