The impressive, hard rocking yet pop accessible, artsy, and eclectic latest project of Mary Timony (Autoclave, Helium, Wild Flag), DC’s Ex Hex have been an important fixture in the underground rock scene since first springing to life five years ago with their acclaimed debut. Out in support of their recent, long-awaited sophomore effort, It’s Real, the band are set to return to Nashville for the first time since an unforgettable Stone Fox outing years back, to headline Exit/In tonight, May 3 with buzzy LA punks Feels, who are also celebrating a highly-anticipated new sophomore release. Easily one of the coolest bills of the spring, and a must-see for fans of genre-bending, artsy, and smart rock, indie, and punk, tickets are still available while they last right here! Read on for more about the show.
EX HEX
After becoming a seminal fixture in the rock scene of the ’90s with bands Autoclave and Helium, then pivoting to a solo career before forming short-lived supergroup Wild Flag with Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss, rocker Mary Timony erupted onto the scene once more with her latest project, Washington, DC’s Ex Hex, in 2013, named for a solo record a decade prior, and finding widespread critical acclaim for their propulsive debut LP, Rips, the following year. Bridging Timony’s indie, garage rock, punk, and hard rock origins and some of the poppier accessibility of Wild Flag, Ex Hex are an anthemic, guitar heavy, artsy, and retro drenched power trio, rounded out by bandmates and creative collaborators Betsy Wright and Laura Harris. After years of extensive touring with acts like Speedy Ortiz, King Tuff, and Rocket from the Crypt, cementing their reputation as one of the rock scene’s premiere new guitar bands, Ex Hex once again teamed up with producer Jonah Takagi for their recent, highly-anticipated sophomore full-length, It’s Real, a more collaborative, bold, experimental, huge, and hard-hitting followup. An essential indie rock act, and one with a particularly cool pedigree, extending well before their own impressive half-decade run, Ex Hex are, without a doubt, one of the best rock bands around, and with Nashville stops apparently few and far between, their Music City return should be essential for any fan of expansive, hard-hitting, genre-bending rock!
FEELS
Evolving from prior project Raw Geronimo, fronted by Laena Geronimo (formerly of The Like, among other buzzy LA bands), Los Angeles psych punks Feels rose to swift critical acclaim for their 2016 self-titled debut. Rounded out by Shannon Lay, Amy Allen, and Michael Perry Rudes, the band’s knack for crafting psyched-out, fuzzy, garage primed, melodic noise punk was fleshed out by rocker Ty Segall, who handled production duties on their debut, and more recently refined by famed producer Tim Green, who worked with the band on their recent sophomore effort, Post Earth, an even more genre-bending, adventurous, and unexpectedly politically and socially charged followup, which feels like an even better distillation of the group’s impressive range and sonic focus. A perfect compliment to Ex Hex, though with a sound more geared in punk, Feels are an essential underground act whose recent turn to existential despair feels more cathartic and necessary now than ever. Don’t miss their set!
Ex Hex and Feels will perform tonight, May 3 at Exit/In. The show is 18+, begins at 9 p.m.(doors at 8 p.m.), and tickets are available to purchase for $18.
