Ex-Members Issue #34

xoex (self-released)

By Anna Breshears
Published: December 1st, 2007 | 4:01pm

Do you long for the days when you were able to profess your love for Flock of Seagulls and a-ha without a hint of irony? Are you tuning into ’80s flashback shows in secret just get your groove on? Your salvation has arrived: the Ex-Members’ electro-wave EP xoex.

Featuring an all-star lineup of Melissa York (Butchies, Team Dresch), Shirlé Hale (Gerty!, Mary Lou Lord), and David K (Gerty!, Liquor Bike), xoex parties like it’s 1985. The past few years have seen many indie bands borrow from their new-wave predecessors by adding synth and drum machine (Gossip, Le Tigre, Ladytron), but Ex-Members do it old school — they’re more OMD than CSS. They literally revive new wave’s trappings and pay homage to bands like Animotion and the Eurythmics.

On “Into the Night,” David K’s dusky, punked-up guitar riffs ground York’s throbbing beats while Hale’s throaty vocals add requisite dance-diva drama. “Big Black Goodbye” is darker but no less catchy, and the jubilant keyboard melodies of “Wishes” are so period-perfect, you’ll swear you heard it at the end of Pretty In Pink.