Review: EXP ‘EXP’
Members of Cop Shoot Cop, Lubricated Goat, Swans, Live Skull collaborating on a brand-new project? And their debut album is coming out on Reptilian Records? I think I just died and went to heaven.
Enter EXP, comprising J. Natz (bass guitar, vocals), A.E. Csaky (guitar, synth), Bloody Rich Hutchins (drums/percussion), Annabel Lee (Violin, Synth, Piano), Stu Art Gray (additional guitar) and Phil Puleo (additional drums).
The record’s been a long time coming. The songs were originally written and recorded between November 2024 and August 2025 and are only now seeing the light of day. But that extra time shows real care, with the band paring the material down from over twenty tracks to just twelve. Metallica should have heeded this with the Load/Reload cycle instead of bombarding us with twenty-seven tracks of sonic mediocrity. Anyhow…
Havoc On The Astral is far more melodic than I was expecting considering the members’ musical history. There’s definitely a nod to David Bowie Heroes, the art-rock and electronic elements present on that release are very apparent. It makes for one hell of an opening statement. Billy’s Mask is informed by psych-infused grunge rockers such as Screaming Trees (note the Mark Lanegan vocal tinge) and Love Battery. The grooves on this thing are especially impressive, as are the ‘70s hard rock vibes ala James Gang, superb.
Isle Of Skye is an instrumental, informed by the otherworldly jams of Earthless and Samsara Blues Experiment, blissful and mesmerising in equal measure; meanwhile, Hey Kid employs yet more psychedelic textures but places them in more of a noise-rock context. There’s a funky, laid-back lilt to the tracks, kinda how you’d wished Californication by The Red Hot Chilli Peppers to sound as opposed to the bland AOR dreck it turned out to be, a cleverly constructed piece.
there are noise-rock artists out there who have more to offer sonically than simple discordance, making this a truly remarkable album…
Radiant One continues the sonic explorations, recalling the hugely overlooked Das Damen; there’s also some dark new wave influences present too, one name springing to mind being Shriekback and particularly their 1985 album Oil & Gold, with that in mind, of course I was going to dig it! New Gravity reminds one of solo Iggy Pop when he adopted more of a smoother hard rock sound as opposed to the furious proto-punk/garage rock of The Stooges, but that’s certainly not to its detriment.
Too Far Gone is eccentric blues in the manner of Tom Waits – this is how I want to hear the genre, rather than crusty bores like Eric Clapton and Joe Bonamassa. Excellent stuff. Armagedinstructionals is pure Doc at the Radar Station era Captain Beefheart with nods to post-punk and art-rock. Seeing as that is my favourite release from the Magic Band maestro, it stood out by a country mile to me and is a personal favourite. Next is Speed Of Light, which employs both Hawkwind-driving space-rock and some very cool post-rock inclination.
Cecil’s Room is akin to an art-damaged Velvet Underground, but also once again David Bowie’s aforementioned Heroes – were the band jamming that record on repeat during the writing process? It seems that way. Plague is a wild ride, combining atonal music, alt-rock and free jazz to dazzling effect. It’s by far the weirdest number here and far more what I was expecting throughout the entirety of EXP’s running time. Finally, Strange Fluctuations features sheets of noise, a motorik-style rhythm section, chaotic vocals that are brilliantly unpredictable, even making PIL at their most uncompromising sound positively conventional by comparison – a stunning conclusion.
EXP proved that there are noise-rock artists out there who have more to offer sonically than simple discordance, making this a truly remarkable album.
Label: Reptilian Records
Band Links: Bandcamp
Scribed by: Reza Mills
