Cathartic Extinction

Short and thoroughly invigorating, XBXRX’s newest offering Sixth in Sixes is fresh assault of screamo, punk, and hardcore. Chances are listeners will either absolutely hate this record or completely fall in love with it. Either way it’s a highly sufficient supplement for one’s morning coffee.To describe exactly what this album is about would be futile, considering it is extremely difficult to make out a single word that XBXRX’s lead singer, simply known as “Steve” is screaming about. Word has it that it has a lot to do with the band believing that there has been five major extinctions during the course of the Earth’s history and the sixth is nearly upon us. No song on the album goes past the two-minute mark except for the highly militant and wonderfully cathartic closer “In Memory Of Our Lives.” The most dynamic and rewarding tune on the album “Beat Rolls On” starts off with an early White Stripes stomp and eventually progresses (or regresses) into a cacophony of guitars and synths. “Gold Cross” simply has two rhythms: fast and super fast. However, these rhythms are infiltrated around the one minute and thirty second mark by Devo-inspired synth stabs, adding yet another layer of spine-tingling goodness. Some songs are simply irritating, like the relentless noise of “The End of Quitting” or the self-indulgent “Breathing.”

XBXRX’s Sixth in Sixes is unquestionably a challenging record. Its ear shattering vignettes of doom are abrasive, yet at the same time they are experimental. Every song is bold, confrontational, and to the point…three ingredients that should never be forgotten when making a good punk album.