{"title":"Ex-Void","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"bigger-than-before","title":"Bigger Than Before","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe perfect pop \u003ci\u003ealbum. The perfect indie pop album. If you buy one album this year make it Bigger Than Before \u003c\/i\u003ethe debut album from Ex-Vöid, the ‘dangerously melodic’ pop group formed by Joanna Gruesome singers Lan McArdle and Owen Williams. Expanding on the “exuberant, hook-stuffed” (Pitchfork) compositions of their previous band, McArdle and Williams have written an album of solid gold power-punk tunes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEx-Vöid draw on guitar pop through the ages- The Byrds, Big Star, Teenage Fanclub- and attack it with the ferocity and economy of a hardcore punk band. Even on mellow numbers like “Weekend” and “No Other Way’, the band have a way of pummelling the listener with an unhealthy quantity of hooks, harmonies and Thin Lizzy inspired dual-guitar solos. Yet there’s also a delicacy to the vocal which brings to mind the eye-of-the-storm melodies of Bilinda Butcher and imbues the album with a kind of grounding ethereality. On tracks like Chemical Reaction and Churchyard, McArdle and Williams’ voices blend and trill with a folk-\u003cbr\u003elike quietness while, down in the grubby engine room, bandmates Laurie Foster (bass) and Jonny\u003cbr\u003eCoddington (drums) thrash their way through noise jams, hardcore breakdowns and open-chord\u003cbr\u003epower-pop riffs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn Lyin’ to You (Baby) and So Neurotic, McArdle’s solo vocal and lyrics take centre stage, and reveal an alt-country tinge to the band reminiscent of acts like Waxahatchee or Lucinda Williams. \u003ci\u003eBigger Than Before\u003c\/i\u003e plays the impressive trick of naturally uniting these disparate strands, and the result is an album which feels both familiar and strikingly unique. Take, for instance, their cover of Arthur Russell’s I Couldn’t Say it to Your Face, in which the band squash a country song into a 2 minute power-pop epic before turning on their heel, and ending\u003cbr\u003ewith an unexpected, severely catchy Cars style synth hook.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBigger Than Before\u003c\/i\u003e was laid down live, with a few minimal overdubs, in just over an hour at Sam and Rachel’s Studio in Hackney, London. (With the exception of Weekend, which was recorded at Coddington’s Bottle Rocket Studio.) The songs were recorded without breaks, and Foster was reported to have “kept on playing even though his belt came loose and his trousers fell down”.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Prefect Records","offers":[{"title":"Purple | LP","offer_id":50459214872907,"sku":"1143202","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"Pink | LP","offer_id":50459211006283,"sku":"1143203","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50459212775755,"sku":"1147245","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6fe2ce20-080c-45ca-9d7f-9a2df2e95513_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727218579"},{"product_id":"in-love-again-2","title":"in Love Again","description":"\u003cp\u003eEx-Vöid - featuring Lan McArdle (Joanna Gruesome, Lanny) and Owen Williams (The Tubs) - return with their second LP: \u003ci\u003eIn Love Again\u003c\/i\u003e. Joined by Laurie Foster (bass) and George Rothman (drums), the record sees the band flourish from a chaotic power punk group into a fully fledged pop behemoth. Taking in elements of shoegaze (Pinhead), country (Outline), 90s indie rock (In Love Again) and pretty much the entire history of guitar music, \u003ci\u003eIn Love Again\u003c\/i\u003e reveals McArdle and Williams to be true students of perfect pop. The pair have been collaborating for a decade now, having played in Joanna Gruesome as teenagers, and \u003ci\u003eIn Love Again\u003c\/i\u003e sees them both building on the sound they’ve honed together and embracing a new, unapologetic attitude towards songcraft. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“We wanted to stop being cringed out by the idea of writing pop music. We’re a bit older now and not trying to remind everyone we come from hardcore\/DIY scenes. It’s still there in our DNA but we wanted to see what might happen if we write the biggest bangers possible” says Williams. Backed by the tight-yet-raucous rhythm section of Foster and Rothman, In Love Again delivers as a huge pop album without sacrificing any of the hardcore propulsion that characterised the band’s first album. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the Ex-Vöid sound is the sublime blend of McArdle and Williams’ vocals: close, folk- indebted harmonies which guide the listener through an onslaught of hooks. And while this is utilised to full effect on \u003ci\u003eIn Love Again\u003c\/i\u003e, the album also sees McArdle make full use of their vocal range. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"No Label","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50494428545355,"sku":"2224379","price":30.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Red LP","offer_id":50494428840267,"sku":"2224380","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50465099153739,"sku":"2224378","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/image007_11cf0d8d_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727281405"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/fr\/collections\/ex-void.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}