3 out of 5

Label: Ace Fu Records

Produced by: Ex Models, Georg Bissen, Shahin Motia

While Ex Models played a particularly speedy version of herky-jerky, mathy hardcore, it wasn’t necessarily a new sound.  However, blending their harsh edge with a mix of pop influences, and doing the touring scene with like-minded acts, seemed to tap into one of those momentary somethings that got people interested in a New York scene of post-whatever.  They’re definitely a good gateway band as well, just catchy and weird enough to grab attention, but with enough of an edge to encourage one to possibly seek out other things.

…Which I did.  I already liked my punk and metal with doses of oddity, but I’d yet to really find something that effectively blew my mind.  Ex Models seemed like they were primed to do so, with opening Other Mathematics track ‘It’s On Television’s a nice consumerism swipe, uttered at blitzing pace atop similarly blitzing riffs, but I found that I didn’t return back to the disc much.  It’s a fun listen, and the first five or so tracks fulfill that notion of recycling other genres through a thrashy, goofy filter of Devo-esque pop, or classic rock.  As the disc gets to its first three minute track, though – The Birth of Disneyland – some self-important lyrics expose what’s kind of the group’s weakness: we’re supposed to be taking this seriously.

It’s a judgement call, of course, but I prefer lyrics where I don’t have to understand them to feel the song.  The lyrics can be good or bad in that case, as long as they come across as honest.  And this often plays out into how they’re sung.  Shahin Motia’s yelp is an important component of Ex Models’ off-kilter sound, but when he slows down to make it clear what he’s singing about, the energy and fun is sucked out: the lyrics just don’t stack up to the inventiveness of the music, which then calls into question that very inventiveness as a forced shtick.

A good swath of Other Mathematics has a nice, Foetus-like abrasive poppiness to it, and when the group kicks over into a more fun take on this – like the lead track – it works really well.  But just as often, the weirdness and the quirkiness feel a little too self-aware to connect with, putting up a barrier between my ears and the album, presumably accounting for why it never clicked.