The Ex: Dutch Disturbances

However many albums Crass has sold, that's how many bands have begun because of them. No one could be faulted for that- well maybe. But the British group's brand of politicism spread through punk as much as any fashion, cause or other trapping. That being said, conversely, the Subhumans concurrently created a stripped down and overtly politicized music. Yet, it seems as if the template that those folks worked from hasn't been taken to heart by other musicians.

The style that the Subhumans embraced incorporated some inside out rhythmic devices contrived from the two tone movement that was beginning to gain notoriety during its early days as a group. I've, in the past, decried the fact that not more folks ended up recycling these styles considering that everything else has gotten a re-working. Perhaps punkers just aren't up to the task musically. Who knows.

But after hearing about the Ex subsequent to a tour a few years ago, I can feel a bit better. The Dutch band doesn't really cop a straight rip off from the Subhumans, but apart from Zounds, there's not another band that sounds like this. And that's why it's bloody funny to repeatedly read that the Ex are basically the Netherlands' version of Crass. It's all subjective, but given the bands already mentioned, it's pretty easy to guess where the Ex sit musically.

The band has been consistently churning out blatant political tirades for thirty years at this point. But looking at the Ex's first full length - Disturbing Domestic Peace - one couldn't guess at the band's sound today. Currently, the group sports as much post-industrial noise and nonsense as any German screech mongers. On that first, 1980 album, though, things were very different.

Every group mentioned herein includes a nonstop political commentary along with each song. But the Ex work to add sexuality and gender to the list of issues it has with culture. "Meanwhile" recounts a date that gets a bit out of hand in the back of a car when a guy pushes a chick too far. Heady stuff for punkers in 1980, especially given that American groups were talking about Reagan nonstop.

The inside out, pseudo ska on "Rules" is memorable - but that approach is revisited a few other times as well. Electronic blips and beeps on not just the lead off "The Sky is Blue Again," but on "Squatsong" actually do set the Ex apart from the rest of the second wave of punkers, though. These inclusions don't really amount to too much unfortunately. It's a momentary distraction from the endless guitar, bass and drums that makes up the lion's share of punk.

So while Crass is important for nothing apart from being vociferous politicos and the Subhumans were actually a good band, the Ex were somewhere in the middle. That's not meant to be overtly critical, but for the most part, punkers aren't known for their instrumental prowess. Very few punk discs from the early '80s, though, can get anywhere near Disturbing Domestic Peace. Cop at will.