Exek's debut LP collects rerecorded and past material, which together stands as the fullest realisation of an Exek identity, honed during two years of haunting Melbourne's live gig circuit. Before forming as a four-piece band in 2014, Exek remained an abstract concept in the mind of front man-to-be, Albert Wolski. With songs written but no musicians to perform them he enlisted Andrew Brocchi (synthesiser), Henry Wilson (bass) and Sam Dixon (drums) and together they began recording material according to Wolski's vision. The addition of Nell Grant on saxophone made previously murky reference points plainly obvious: Exek are the progeny of a Melbourne scene that established itself around Dave Chesworth and Philip Brophy's Innocent record label of the 1980s and its greatest offering, Essendon Airport's Palimpsest LP (1981). But Exek dare to abandon the pop and funk tropes of the early Australian new wave scene reaching out to German post-punk of the same era. Wolski's songwriting is akin to that of the records put out by Hannover's No Fun Records and Hamburg's Zickzack, channeling the droll lyricism of The 39 Clocks and saturated with self-deprecating Attitude. Their vision mirrors Tuxedomoon's 'Holiday for Plywood' but crucially Biased Advice is a sermon that Exek preach to themselves. The band pit themselves as both victims and saviours living in a world that's trying to extinguish them. Simply, this post-kraut-dub-psyche-punk excursion is a sublime balance of improvisation and cold calculation
