Description

Upset The Rhythm presents

EXEK
THE REBEL
Friday 27 September
Moth Club, Old Trades Hall, Valette St, Hackney Central, E9 6NU

7.30pm | £7

EXEK thrive amidst noirish, dub-dilated post-punk, with lyrics skirting the sardonic, mired in disdain. Situated in a reservoir of space echo and assisted by the heavyweight bass-and-drum brunt of Henry Wilson and Sam Dixon, vocalist Albert Wolski conveys an oblique, literate nihilism that resembles both a sneer and a smirk. Wicked turns of phrase are spiked with black humour and surrealism as the rest of the band summon sparse, reverb-drenched runs of percussion and a thickset low end prone to detour and dysfunction. Exek recently followed up their 'Ahead Of Two Thoughts' LP released last year on W.25TH (Superior Viaduct) with their astonishing 'A Casual Assembly' EP. This new record from Melbourne's audio-wranglers coalesces around a stirring theme for synthesizer, trumpet and bass, bringing together reference points to Laurie Spiegel, Jah Wobble and The Velvet Underground's 'The Gift.' Frontman Albert Wolski's disembodied narration at times reminiscent of Samuel Beckett or Robert Ashley unfolds over a series of dark vignettes set in a dystopian near-future. Autotune has been banned, secret police patrol the redoubts of the wealthy, and world beaches have been cleared of their sand for the construction of enormous urban prisons. As these events turn more fraught and absurd, Wolski reveals just how much is gained through EXEK's stripped-down arrangements and dreamlike tones.
https://exek.bandcamp.com/

THE REBEL is prolific London outsider Ben Wallers; a charismatic lone wolf in a cowboy hat or trilby and a tie whose electrified howls are too idiosyncratic to be broken down into market-oriented terms. It is difficult to sketch a thumbnail summary of a musician who has amassed a vast and unwieldy discography under a variety of names and genres: the most widely acclaimed is probably the Country Teasers, but he also moonlights as, or in, the Rebel, the Company, the Male Nurse, the Beale, the Stallion, the Black Poodle and Skills on Ampex, across folk, country, garage, post-punk, no wave and electronic pop. In the main part The Rebel is centred around twisted Casio drones, clanging guitar and some defiantly deadpan vocals, all thrown in the pan and pressure-cooked in Wallers' mind. Wallers has amassed a near-unquantifiable discography over the past 20 years, from scores of more or less "official" LPs, EPs and 7"s to seemingly endless self-released cassettes.
https://therebelband.bandcamp.com/

Description

Old Trades Hall, Valette Street,

Hackney,

Greater London,

England,

E9 6NU.