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Exit International - Black Junk

Exit International - Black Junk
Album Reviews

Intense, sweaty and claustrophobic; energetic enough to power your street.



Released: 19th September 2011
Reviewer: Phill May
If you could bottle the essence of Russell Brand’s sex addiction, you could make a fortune. But what if you could convert such bottled nymphomania into musical form? Oh, Exit_International just have, and they’ve called it 'Black Junk'. Bass guitar can often have a primal feel, and E_I use two of them; eschewing a guitar but losing absolutely nothing. Scott Lee Andrews and Fudge Wilson deliver a double four-string onslaught, while Adam Thomas ably backs them up by beating the crap out of his kit. From the second ‘Glory Horn’ stumbles out of your speakers like a drunk falling down the stairs only to launch into a fight with the entire bar, this album rockets through a racket that will remind you of Future Of The Left, Blood Brothers, and every time you woke up after a gig with your ears still ringing.

The most impressive factor concerning Black Junk is that it could so easily have been limited; with two bass guitars, they could have ended up with thirteen tracks that all sound the same. Yet, for all the ferocious screaming, E_I have instead managed to riddle their début with stand-out tracks; ‘Sex With Strangers’ and ‘Hey Disciple’ topping this lewdly thrusting mound of excellent noise. ‘Bowie’s Ghost & The 3 Virgins’ has a completely different feel to the groove/pulse of ‘Chainsaw Song’, which in turn has little in common with the slower ‘King Of The Junkies’, with its rare clean opening and annihilating climax the perfect example of the diversity and surprising dynamism of this short, sharp shock of an album. However, full of unsettling, sexually subversive lyrics – the surprisingly sing-along ‘My Mouth Is Your Mouth’ includes the lines “I’ve got your DNA trapped under my fingers, you’ve got my DNA all over your face” – this is not a band to take home to your mother.

It’s all over in thirty three minutes, but when it ends you need to catch your breath; it’s a whirlwind of noise and ass-shaking grooves. Established bands often announce they want to capture the live feel on their new record, but Exit_International have already managed it with this début. It’s intense, sweaty and claustrophobic; energetic enough to power your street, the whole thing feels like it could collapse under its own force at any second – meaning it’s not just exciting, it feels dangerous. It’ll get into your head, and into your pants if you’re not careful. Get involved, the only thing you’ll regret is not going to the doctor’s the following day to find out why it’s itchy down there. Rating: 8/10
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