When Ex Hex’s debut album Rips dropped last October it did so to a welter of high praise, its glorious amalgam of 60s inspired powerpop, punk, garage and glam rock deservedly pushing the record into many a Best of 2014 lists. The trio of lead singer, guitarist and principal songwriter Mary Timony – a relative veteran of the Washington DC alt scene and whose 2005 solo album gave the band their name – Betsy Wright and Laura Harris on bass guitar and drums respectively are now here in the UK to promote the album as part of their first ever European tour.
And promote it they do for tonight we get all twelve of Rips’ songs, each one bristling with energy, attitude and melody. From the set opener and the record’s first track ‘Don’t Wanna Lose’ – a most breathless, uplifting blast of pop-punk – to the triumphal set closer ‘Everywhere’, Ex Hex unashamedly embrace a raft of musical styles and influences.
Inevitable comparisons will be drawn with other all-female bands like the recently returned Sleater-Kinney and Babes In Toyland, but live Ex Hex’s sound owes
more to the distinctly male insurgence of The Stooges and the quirky pop sensibility of The Modern Lovers. On a wonderfully extended ‘Beast’ they even embrace the sexual ambiguity of glam rock as Timony and Wright lean on each other and memories flood back of that transcendental moment on Top of the Pops when Bowie slung his arm round Mick Ronson’s neck.
To the dozen songs from Rips, Ex Hex add a rattling good cover of The Real Kids’ ‘All Kindsa Girls’, complete with a cracking little solo from Timony which just goes to show that she really did study all of Brian May’s guitar parts. Another cover appears for the second encore, a playful reading of Sweet’s 1975 chart smash ‘Fox On The Run’ putting yet another joyous dent in the usual mid-week torpor. If only every Wednesday evening was just like this.
More photos from this show can be found here
