Featuring elegant melodies, graceful chord progressions, and some fancy-sounding guitar effects,
the Exies' self-titled debut is hook-filled, but fairly redundant of some of the worst trends of '90s rock. Some of the album's better moments include "Baby Got a New Revelation," which is a cool rock song about some girl; "1970," a laid-back tune about being young and carefree with '70s references such as Evil Knievel and Muhammad Ali sprinkled throughout; and "Ego Tryptophane," a love song featuring a soaring,
Pixies-like guitar solo from guitarist
David Walsh. These guys dig '60s and early-'70s pop and rock like
the Beatles,
Elton John, and
the Kinks, and '90s radio staples such as
Stone Temple Pilots,
the Foo Fighters, and
Radiohead. But their music copies only the fluffiest and most commercial-leaning aspects of those bands for a sound that is so radio friendly that it lacks any soul or feeling. There are a lot of bands plying the '90s radio sound hoping to be the next
Stone Temple Pilots or
Foo Fighters, but since those bands were less than important to begin with and their songs fit perfectly into any beer commercial, it's a very sad day when your band sounds like a second-rate version of one of those groups, which is the case with
the Exies. ~ Adam Bregman