And the Weathermen Shrug Their Shoulders

by Skip JansenThe second album of this winning collaboration between the legendary independent post-punk group and avant garde cellist Tom Cora sees the group continue to indulge their collective love for European folk themes and free improvisation. At moments, the stuttering, angular Gang of Four sound rises up, and the group carries a stilted groove through the extended pieces, when their trademark skittering guitars walk a line between artful control and willful chaos, recalling their explosive Crass-like '80s sound. While the delicate melodious folk patters, curious improvised sound-searching marked a new tangent the group followed into a total free-form improvisation inspired by the likes of avant-garde jazz associates Han Bennink and Misha Mengelberg. They never left their punk roots behind ,however. The Ex is one of the genre's most interesting and inventive groups.