Pitchfork

Those attending the reunion shows for lesbionic punk avengers Team Dresch got a pleasant surprise in the opening act, Ex-Members, which includes drummer Melissa York, who played on TD's final recording, Captain My Captain, and then started the Butchies with her bandmate, singer/guitarist Kaia Wilson. Frontwoman/bassist/keyboardist Shirlé Hale (Mary Lou Lord, Womyn of Destruction, Gerty) and guitarist/keyboardist David K (Liquor Bike, Gerty) round out the trio. Their just-released xoex_ep is a departure from Team Dresch and the Butchies. It's a dance-rock party that would fit in nicely between Le Tigre and the Gossip, only Hale's low, smoky vocals are more Chrissie Hynde than powerhouses like Kathleen Hanna or Beth Ditto. The opening track "Into the Night" and closer "Wishes" are drum machine-cracking anthems and pogo-worthy bangers. "Wishes", a song that appears to be about coming of age, could double for the soundtrack to the freaky geeky kids rising to the top in a montage from a John Hughes film or a gay pride march, with its refrain, "There we are, we've come so far."

Stream:> Ex-Members - "Into the Nite" and "Wishes"
[From the self-released xoex_ep; out now]