Pitchfork

[Posted Wednesday, November 5th, 2003 06:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

On their website, nouveau post-punks The Vexers have posted dates for their positively epic fall tour through the U.S. and England. They'll be playing with a variety of bands, from The Sick Lipstick (quite appropriate) to Small Brown Bike (less so, but feasible) to an opening spot on a bill with mother-loving Sense Field. Wait, what? That's like if Yeah Yeah Yeahs opened for Pedro the Lion-- an engraved invitation to intra-audience violence and communication breakdown. This could be the basis for a new Quadrophenia-- instead of rockers vs. mods, it'll be leather jackets vs. cardigans. And that, my friends, is the sound of the zeitgeist being captured.

The Vexers are on tour to support the Gangland Ballads and the Death of Sex Set EP, which came out in the U.S. in September via Ace Fu Records, as the follow-up to their self-titled Ace Fu debut LP. Gangland was released in the UK on October 20th, via Cargo UK. From what I understand, rock 'n' roll musicians often set up commercial displays of their wares when they perform in concert. These are colloquially known as "merch tables," and I'm sure that, at any of the following live dates, you can trade in all your salmon-kissed new twenties, crisp pounds, or bricks of gold for the new EP, the first album, and assorted fashion styles. The dates, if you please:

11-06 London, England - The Monarch (w/ Elefant, Sense Field)
11-09 Nottingham, England - Rescue Rooms (w/ Melt Banana)
11-10 Leeds, England - The Vine
11-11 London, England - Buffalo Bar
11-12 London, England - Metro Bar
11-13 London, England - On the Rocks
11-14 Leicester, England - Sumo
11-15 Cardiff, Wales - Barfly
11-21 Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
11-22 Columbia, MO - Music Cafe
11-23 Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge
11-24 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court (w/ Sick Lipstick, Tyrades)
11-25 Portland, OR - Dante's (w/ Fireballs of Freedom, the Riffs)
11-27 Seattle, WA - Graceland
11-29 Los Angeles, CA - Roxy
11-30 Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction
12-03 El Paso, TX - Club 101
12-05 Austin, TX - Emo's (w/ The Oranges Band, Small Brown Bike)
12-06 San Antonio, TX - Sin 13
12-07 Houston, TX - Mary Jane's (w/ Catch 22, Boys Night Out)
12-10 Myrtle Beach, SC - The Lime Light (w/ Something About Vampires, Sluts)

The Vexers formed in 2001 when its principals left their sun-dappled, idyllic L.A. home for Philadelphia, where that city's gritty atmosphere settled into the crevices of their wiry (pun intended), sparse post-punk. Often drawing comparisons to original post-punk acts such as Wire, The Fall, X-Ray Spex and Gang of Four, as well as modern descendents like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Elastica and The Liars, The Vexers have polarized audiences throughout their short career. The crux seems to be the issue of authenticity. Good music has to be shaped by heart, not expectations, and if The Vexers want to sing songs called "Mutual Masturbation" over single-string guitar lines, it's better for them to do exactly that than to try to concoct some mystic, populist rant just because that's how Mark E. Smith did it.