Art-punk has always seemed like such a strange and confusing term to me; how can you consolidate the "who give's a fuck" attitude inherent in punk culture with the unavoidable self awareness of the art world? How can these two worlds exist side by side without compromising one another? The newest album from Melbourne's EXEK makes for a pretty strong argument in favour of this coexistence. Like the album art, which appears to portray the cheaply produced wall art of some long forgotten travel agency, inexplicably displayed on the cork insulation of an unfinished building, this is music given new and interesting context by it's surrounding contrasts; a tacky, faded mountain vista on a mass produced, serial numbered metal frame, made strangely enigmatic and meaningful by it's dreary surroundings, which are in turn given a strange new appeal, browns and beiges made to look almost earthly in tone in the company of this tacky mountain landscape. It is these sort of unexpected interactions that makes Ahead of Two Thoughts such a singular and rewarding listening experience.
U-Mop opens the album with a swaggering, funky bass groove that dances lazily amongst jagged, crystalline guitar hooks, delayed hi-hats, and sarcastic, unimpressed lyrics that sound like they are delivered languidly between drags from a cigarette. The slinking sounds of a saxophone follows closely behind in the wake of street trash and half-smoked butts, bringing to mind the neon glow of strip clubs reflected in dirty sidewalk puddles, images of a seedy New York night-life as depicted in every ludicrous 1980's crime movie; sirens blaring, packs of chain wielding teenagers lurking in dark alleyways.
Punishment takes things into more psychedelic, kraut-rock territories, an insistent motorik groove propelling the music forward and twisting down a dark tunnel of hypnotic distorted guitars that bring to mind Microcastle era Deerhunter. As the guitars aim skyward and threaten to break through some unseen threshold, they drop out of the mix completely, leaving the bass to scale meanderingly alongside spaciously delayed drums that hang weightlessly in the air, a seamless transition to the smokey no-wave funk of Weight Loss (Henry's Dream), and the dub infused psychedelics of Fluent in English, a mostly instrumental interlude of sorts that seems to anchor the album with it's dizzying, sustained guitar notes that ring out like Robert Fripps Frippertronics appropriated for the post punk crowd, foregoing precision and technicality for a disorienting sense of atmosphere and tension.
This tension eventually gives way to the much needed catharsis of Prawn Watching, a steady bass rhythm carrying on it's tail a wave of noisy, soaring guitars that leaves the listener light headed, the music barrelling towards some undeniable conclusion. Spoken word vocals are buried deeply in the mix so as to become indistinguishable from the listeners own personal revelations, a clarity of mind that seems to emerge most prominently amidst chaos and confusion. It is these moments that the true power of EXEK really shines through, harnessing disparate ideas and idiosyncrasies into something that makes sense, while still maintaining at it's core a sound both kaleidoscopic and unknowable.