4 out of 5

Label: Polyvinyl

Producer: Weasel Walter (mixed by)

xbxrx is to Polyvinyl what Racebannon was to Secretly Canadian – that odd man out in their lineup.  And maybe the label is just goin’ for press by reaching beyond their general musical staples, but you’re glad they did, because it brings to your attention a great band you might not have otherwise tried.

So: two references immediately come to mind.  The screamy full-throttle punky bits can’t help but bring to mind early Blood Brothers, but the more steady, rapid-attack rumble of the drumming – especially as it becomes a more notable backbone during the breakdowns – blended with Walter’s capturing the bass as fuzzy and heavy – remind me of Die! Die! Die!.  Unfortunately, more like the former, the blink-and-it’s-over songs tend to run into one another, with only a couple key moments halting the assault to toss in a magical element – a quick jam on keys (very effective ’cause they’re not at all overused) or a sudden time signature shift with a stripped back moment where the out-and-out riffing and yelling stops (again, made effective by not being a repeated tool in the song arsenal).  However, like the latter… early Blood Brothers was notably sloppy and youthful.  It took a couple mashy albums to piece their sound into ‘Burn Piano Island.’  But Sixth in Sixes feels absolutely intended, with all the snotty urgency of D!D!D! tuned up a few punk notches and screamed back in your face with the perfect balance of precision and looseness in each track.  It’s not overly complicated but not overly simple, making for a unique experience.

Though this compositional and instrumental skill is obviously key, I have to say that the listenableness of this recording must be due to Walter’s mix.  I’m plus/minus on Luttenbachers, so I’m not just a blind follower, but Walter certainly knows his noise.  Groups this loud need a good producer to flesh out the right elements without sacrificing their aggression.  I often find Matt Bayles smoothes the edges in favor of a more electronic sound, and though I think Goodmanson’s production on the two final Blood Brothers albums is amazing, it is, I think, purposefully harsh, such that you have to give it a rest after a go through.  But I had ‘Sixth’ spinning on repeat.  Accepting that it’s a damned short record, Walter allows the vocals to sink to the pack and pushes the drumming forefront, just at the threshold where it becomes noticeable what he’s doing.  This prevents the yelps from tearing your ears up and also gives us something to nod our heads too instead of requiring headbanging.  The guitar and bass are similarly flip-flopped.  For both of these slightly background elements, whoever mic-ed them (or if this falls under mixing as well) assisted in keeping the sound full, so you still get the full gut punch of the sweat behind the singing and riffing.  To the lyrics, you can’t discern most of it, but glancing at the liner notes, they’re of my favorite variety of indirect rallying cries – no eye-rolling chants or choruses, but enough meat to incite our shared frustrations.  And they spell ‘your’ ‘yr,’ which I like, which you’d think I wouldn’t, but since seeing Racebannon do it, it feels like an effective way to strip out excess and express that these words must be spat.

‘Pigs Wear Blue’ in the middle of the record is an amazing track, featuring the special elements mentioned way many words above.  Ideally I’d like to see an album with more of this scattered throughout.