On their sophomore album, Inertia, The Exies party like it’s 1993.
Borrowing heavily from Stone Temple Pilots and Alice in Chains, The Exies create a warm atmosphere of power chords writhing within tidal waves of distortion. Each track overflows with radio-friendly chorus-verse-chorus sing-alongs and a continual flux of digital wizardry.
Lead singer and guitarist Scott Stevens’ work as a sound engineer becomes apparent within 30 seconds of The Exies’ first single, “My Goddess.” Lead vocals and rhythm guitars get funked up a la Linkin Park, while percussion sounds fade and swerve until they evolve into digitized glitches.
This studio tinkering shifts beautifully from blatant vox manipulation to subtle rhythmic mutations. The result sounds somewhat familiar, but is very welcome when combined with the band’s humble songwriting and straightforward three-minute musical craftings.
Even when The Exies are on the verge of clichéd formula rock, as with their power ballad, “Creeper Kamikaze,” which is packed with string arrangements and self-obsessing introspection, their honesty and simplicity pull them back into safe territory.
There is something comforting in a band that doesn’t want to forge new musical territory — a band that doesn’t try to surprise its listeners with innovation.
But the album’s title track proves that the band can mellow out without losing its edge (“Got a head full of one-way rides that you wouldn’t believe / A giant leap from your heart to my arms before it’s time to leave”). It’s a song about aggression and confusion and, of course, love and rejection all bundled into a catchy ditty that high school rock bands would find no shame playing to their girlfriends on their seven-month anniversaries.
The Exies plunge forward through the song with intensity, whether or not their distortion pedals are turned on.
For a band that took its name from a John Lennon-termed moniker for existentialists, there is, intelligently enough, a complete lack of philosophically “deep” lyrics. Instead, the Exies’ philosophy is simple: Let the guitars wash over you and sing what you feel. There is no need for the lyrics to be as polished as the studio engineering.
Luckily, these newcomers stay away from the bland nu-metal formula (apart from some hacky-sack rhymes on “Lo-Fi”) and opt for straight-forward rockin’ out.
On “Can’t Relate,” Stevens stutters out his lyrics like a cover version of The Who’s “My Generation.” He rails against today’s superfluous one-hit wonders and anoints himself a musical savior, singing, “So who’s the leader? / I’m the leader / Falling deeper.” His words repeat and stumble over themselves as he searches for inspiration in a seemingly dried-up industry.
Songs like “Calm and Collapsed” and “Kickout” rely heavily on severe dynamic changes and Stevens’ raspy crooning. “I’ll kick out before you cage me,” he sings, supported by a crush of guitar and crash cymbal.
The inherent joy of these songs is that they don’t alienate and they don’t try to be something they are not. Not every track has the potential to become a hit, but each fits on this album and makes it a welcome work of grunge nostalgia. The entire CD clocks in at around 35 minutes, which is perfect for its content. It is long enough to satisfy, but short enough to avoid redundancy.
Whether they are singing about being in love with a cheating girlfriend (“Evil Genius”) and backed by lilting acoustic guitars, as well as piano and flowing violin, or relishing in the simplicity of rhythmic distortion and the pounding force of an arena-rock anthem (“Without”), The Exies’ band members nail down their own formula and keep to what they know.
The Exies will not single-handedly resurrect rock music with Inertia, but it is a thousand times more interesting than Puddle of Mudd waxing scatological and stealing riffs from “Grease.”
Grade: A/B
