Fronted by the inimitable Meek, Ex- is a band who have featured on these pages on several occasions previously, their talented lead singer/guitarist/lyricist a prolific writer as well as talented musician.
Meek by name and meek by nature? He may come across as an unassuming and modest character in person, and look at the bands Facebook description, it is the somewhat minimalistic “Band from Scotland”. This is a description which massively understates the depth and quality of the music of Ex-, a punk band at heart – a hint of proto-punk, glam punk, through the gamut of late 70s harmonic melodic pun – but mixing things up and making them their own while, dare I say, interlacing elements of, for want of a better phrase “indie-rock” (the riffs in Gonna Do a Runner have Shed Seven written all over them).
Meek by name and nature certainly, but when it comes to making a statement and writing a powerful lyric, Meek doesn’t hold back. Forewarned Is Forearmed is possibly, no definitely – and whatsmore defiantly, their most accomplished work to date. There is an unwavering vigour that runs through the bands work, Forewarned is Forearmed demonstrates this assured indefatigably in bucketloads. The potency of Meeks lyrics is brought to life with an equally dramatic efficacy in the playing and arrangements, the combined aural sculptures created by the tour de force that is Ex- ensuring the music has a bite to match its bark.
Meek leads his crew with a gutsy determination, his passion and vitality matched by the bruising energy of the rhythm section of Dave McDonald on bass and Scott McKinley on drums, and bolstered with a searing vitality unleashed by their most recent recruit Tam Bowman on lead guitar. Every song is loaded to bursting with an abundance of hooks, riffs, rolls, fills and choruses that have you at their mercy from the off.
The boisterous opener You Started It, grips you with the tenacity of a bulldog, a grip whose intense ferocity may change throughout the ten compelling songs but without ever losing its hold on you.
Meek has a dexterous way with words, which always make you feel that there is a personal story or a statement being made, like the hold of addiction in Wasted, or corruption and politics in the likes of Follow the Money or Get the Message (Loud and Clear) however, they are cleverly written with a certain ambiguity that allows the listener to read their own messages into the songs, making them personal to them.
Every one of these songs lodge themselves between yer lugs with their addictive guitar lines, driving rhythms or singalong choruses, let’s face every song has them all. Just when you think they’ve reached a climax, songs like Influencer and the album’s penultimate song Hiding in Plain Sight reach immense peaks once again.
The album culminates in the thunderous epic behemoth that is Sub Zero, a turbulent high octane tune packed with crunching guitars, pounding back line and a bullish confidence in its sentiment, Meek exudes a certain belligerence in the repeated refrains as the album reaches it gratifyingly euphoric conclusion.
Ex- are Meek (lead vocals/rhythm guitar), Tam Bowman (lead guitar/backing vocals), Scott McKinlay (drums) and Dave McDonald (Bass).
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