The Ex- Blueprints For A Blackout

Label: Superior Viaduct

Reissued 3/29/2024, Originally released 1984

Blueprints For A Blackout, The Ex’s fifth album and first double LP, combines caustic studio experimentations and loose songs from their gripping live-set at the time. The band consisted of singer G.W. Sok, guitarist Terrie Ex, two new recruits on bass, Luc and Yoke, and drummer Sabien Witteman, along with a plethora of guests including Mekons’ Jon Langford and long-serving sound engineer Dolf Planteijdt, among others. Originally released in 1984 on the band’s own Pig Brother Productions, Blueprints veers from jagged punk explosions to sharply focused improvisations featuring field recordings that would become a hallmark of their subsequent forays into free jazz and experimental music. The overall effect is not unlike the menace of a slowly building winter storm. Tracks like “Rabble With A Cause,” “U.S. Hole” and “Scrub That Scum” stand out as exemplars of this phase of The Ex. Comparisons can be made to contemporaries Einstürzende Neubauten, NoMeansNo and Svätsox as well as later Crass label bands. This first-time vinyl reissue comes with 24-page booklet.

Track listing:

1. Streetcars Named Desire / Animal Harm (Medley)
2. Blueprints For A Blackout
3. Rabble With A Cause
4. Requiem For A Rip-Off
5. Pleased To Meat You
6. A Goodbuy To You
7. The Swim
8. Boohoo
9. U.S. Hole
10. (Not) 2B Continued
11. Grimm Stories
12. A Plague To Survive
13. The Rise Of The Dutch Republic
14. Kidnap Connection
15. Fire And Ice
16. Jack Frost Is Innocent
17. Love You Till Eh
18. Food On 45
19. Scrub That Scum