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Review: Xerxes - Collision Blonde

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Much like it is on the internet, five years is practically a lifetime in hardcore. Louisville, KY post-hardcore quartet Xerxes have been together in some form or fashion since 2009, but the 2014 version is light-years removed (both in sound and in line-up) from their modest high school genus. Taking the future by the throat with little regard for the past, their new sophomore LP, Collision Blonde (No Sleep) is both a throwback to art-damaged DC bands on Dischord Records in the early-to-mid 90s and a forward-thinking miasma of angular post-punk and hazy dream-pop tropes - all held together by a firm, modern hardcore foundation.

Recorded over several weeks this past spring in guitarist Will Allard’s basement studio with co-producer Evan Weiss (You Blew It!, The Jazz June), Collision Blonde avoids the dreaded sophomore curse by balancing creative ambition with solid songwriting values, searing lyrics and a keen sense of music history.

All the old-but-never-out-of-style existential standards - love, drugs, depression, the burden of self-doubt - are touched upon. “I Was Wrong” fades in with overdriven angst and a palpable atmosphere of slow, deliberate dread that almost brings to mind Bauhaus, while “Criminal, Animal” tempers its distorted, bass-driven drive with tremelo-heavy guitars imported from Loveless. “A Toast” and “Knife” are this reviewer’s favourite cuts, a perfect storm of all Xerxes’ musical strengths and vocalist Calvin Philley’s best lyrical and vocal performances on the record. “Use As Directed” is a moody, hazy curio that will probably piss off a few purists with its off-kilter instrumentation; though it is not without its charm, it feels more like a b-side than an album track.

Thankfully, “Chestnut Street” builds up momentum after the brief misstep with a hook-laden, melodic rocker that brings to mind Echo and the Bunnymen, followed by the shoegazing, throat-shredding catharsis of the title track (favourite line: “they were screaming for blood, but no one was listening”). Both “Exit 123”, with its droning wall of textured guitar, and “(But Here We Are),” a sober, spoken word meditation on the recent past, take the referential crate-diving present throughout Collision Blonde to great extreme (the latter in particular, a blatant Slint cop that clearly owes everything to Spiderland), but at least Xerxes are biting icons who truly deserve to reach a new generation by hook or by crook. “Nosedive” rounds things out on another high note, a catchy, explosive climax imbued with genuine drama and emotive heft.

If you have serious feels for Slint, Pianos Become The Teeth and a good sampling of the Dischord back catalogue (to say nothing of a certain iconic, depressive Mancunian four-piece who shall remain nameless), Collision Blonde is a worthy edition to your collection. While by no means a brand new spin on a very old wheel, a willingness to play with unconventional tropes in a sub-genre where imagination has at times been a rare commodity pays great dividends here. Xerxes may prove that hardcore, periodically buried and subsequently resurrected like Lazarus with a Telecaster, is the Zombie Apocalypse.

Download: Knife

4.5/5

By Matthew Elliot
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