Live: Ex Hex @ Six D.O.G.S (Athens, March 11, 2015)

Ex Hex closed their European tour last Wednesday with their first ever show in Athens, at the small but inviting Six D.O.G.S club. Despite her long history before Ex Hex, with some great bands like Wild Flag, Helium or Autoclave and as a solo artist, this was also Mary Timony's debut live performance here, a fact that shows the exceptional success that Timony is currently enjoying with her new band.

This success has a lot to do with the melodic power and joyful energy that runs through all the songs that make up "Rips", the wonderful Ex Hex debut which found a place in many of 2014's end-of-the-year album lists (and at the No. 10 of ours).

Mary Timony always had a unique talent for melody, writing tunes that even at their most twisted and otherworldly found a way to worm into your ears and stick to your head for days. Her work with Helium is the best example of this, with 1997's "The Magic City" being essential listening for anyone who appreciates idiosyncratic pop that thinks outside the box.

Her teaming up in Ex Hex with the killer rhythm section of Betsy Wright and Laura Harris and the desire to write simple, energetic songs that conjure the spirits of glam rock, punk and power pop by combining melody and power gave us "Rips", perhaps her most immediate and catchy album to date.

Every song on this album was included in their small but perfectly formed 45-minute live set, a testament to the power of the record's material, and as bonus we also got to hear a new one (that may or may not be called "Greasy Wheel"). 

It's certainly not easy to single out highlights in such a tight, expertly executed set, but the way they stretched "Beast" from a three-minute power pop gem to a six-minute monster guitar jam, reveals that Ex Hex certainly have a lot more tricks up their sleeve than what they may have led you to believe! I think we can expect some very interesting twists and turns in their next steps!

Check out "Beast" below, as well as "Waterfall" which they kept for the encore of their set:

Ex Hex - Beast, live in Athens

Ex Hex - Waterfall, live in Athens

Mary Timony / Ex Hex

The show opened with the noisy, garage rock tunes of The Dark Rags, who earlier this year released their second album "Paranoia Blues". Find out more about them here.

The Dark Rags

The Obits, False Alarm, The Dark Rags live @ Six D.O.G.S (Athens, October 17, 2012)

You could say that The Obits, the main protagonists of the guitar feast we enjoyed last Wednesday at the Six D.O.G.S club, came to Athens at just the right time. If you paraphrase a little the title of their latest album ("Moody, Standard And Poor"), you have a very succinct, right on the money description of the way most Greeks feel at the moment: moody, substandard and poor!

On the other hand, if you take into consideration the achievements of Obits main man Rick Froberg over the last two and a half decades (from Pitchfork, to Drive Like Jehu, to Hot Snakes), then it definitely took too long to see him in action here in Athens.

The same basic elements that characterized the sound of Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes, Froberg’s piercing yell and the two adventurous, dueling guitars, are still present in The Obits sound. The songs on their two albums so far are simpler in structure compared to the past but retain their explosive edge, while Froberg may not yell as loud as he used to but both his delivery and guitar playing are just as intense as back in the day.

Sohrab Habibion, the band’s other guitarist, also made his presence felt both on and off the stage, breaking one string after the other and also managing, during incendiary set-closer "Killer", to crowd-surf all over the tiny club. Credit, of course, goes also to the band’s rock solid rhythm section which consists of Greg Simpson on bass and Alexis Fleisig, of Girls Against Boys fame, on drums.

The Obits, live @ Six D.O.G.S

Scott McCloud

The voice of the latter, and legend in his own right, Mr. Scott McCloud was also present in the club on this night. His role was to reprise his performance on False Alarm’s "Sell Me Something", one of the two tracks on the Greek band’s just released debut single (see the live collaboration below). False Alarm opened for Obits with a strong set comprising of material from their soon to be released debut album and also paid tribute to their influences by bringing on stage Ada Lambara (guitarist of '80s greats Villa 21 and Nonmandol later on) to perform with them on their covers of Social Distortion’s "Don’t Drag Me Down" and Wipers’ "Over the Edge".

False Alarm, live @ Six D.O.G.S

False Alarm with Ada Lambara, live @ Six D.O.G.S

The night opened by another local act, The Dark Rags, who successfully mix garage and punk rock, continuing a rich tradition of the Greek indie scene that can be traced all the way back to the '80s and bands like The Last Drive.

The Dark Rags, live @ Six D.O.G.S

Here’s what Obits played for us in their 65-minute set:

Light Sweet Crude, Shift Operator, Pine On, No Fly List, SUD, Everything Looks Better in the Sun, New August, Suez Canal, Lilies in the Street, The City Is Dead  (The Kids cover), You Gotta Lose, I Want Results. Encore: Talking To The Dog, Widow of My Dreams, Killer.

The Obits - Widow Of My Dreams, live @ Six D.O.G.S (Athens, Oct. 17, 2012)

False Alarm with Scott McCloud - Sell Me Something, live @ Six D.O.G.S (Athens, Oct. 17, 2012)