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Inspired by bold and brash glam rock, power pop, and punk, Washington, D.C.'s power trio
Ex Hex was founded
Mary Timony, whose intricate experiments with
Helium in the '90s and as a solo artist in the 2000s couldn't have been further from this band's tough, melodic sound. On their 2014 freewheeling debut album,
Rips,
Ex Hex paid homage to
Thin Lizzy,
the Cars, and
Cheap Trick without following too closely in their footsteps, while 2019's more crafted
It's Real added extra studio polish to their rock & roll fantasies.
The band began when
Timony's previous project
Wild Flag -- which also featured
Sleater-Kinney's
Janet Weiss and
Carrie Brownstein -- folded in late 2012.
Timony had been writing stripped-down, energetic songs for what would have been the band's second album and wanted to continue in that direction, so she began jamming with former
Chain & the Gang bassist Betsy Wright and drummer Laura Harris (who also played with
Benjy Ferree and
the Aquarium). They found common ground in their love of '60s garage rock as well as the punk, power pop, and new wave of the late '70s and early '80s.
Timony also drew inspiration from her work as a guitar teacher, which found her revisiting many of rock's classic songs and playing in standard tuning more often than she had with
Helium or as a solo artist.
The trio began recording in
Timony's basement and playing shows with artists including
Superchunk's
Mac McCaughan. In 2013,
Ex Hex signed to
McCaughan's label, Merge Records. The band's debut single, "Hot and Cold," arrived in March 2014 with an even more streamlined and straightforward sound than
Timony pursued with
Wild Flag. For their first full-length,
Rips,
Ex Hex worked with producer
Mitch Easter as well as
Timony's frequent collaborator
Jonah Takagi;
Bobby Harlow of
the Go and Conspiracy of Owls mixed the album.
Rips arrived in October 2014. The group toured for the better part of two years following its release and issued a cover of
the Real Kids' "All Kindsa Girls" in 2015.
Ex Hex's members then took some time to pursue other projects: Wright formed the group
Bat Fangs, Harris joined
Death Valley Girls, and
Timony reissued
Helium's
The Dirt of Luck and Magic City. The band spent a year recording their second album, working with
Takagi once again and using gear that included the Rockman, a small amp designed by
Boston's Tom Scholz in 1982. The more elaborate-sounding
It's Real appeared via Merge Records in March 2019. ~ Heather Phares