O-D-EX’s Breaker is the debut release from this solo/collaborative project of The Marked Men’s and Mind Spider’s Mark Ryan (we caught him play at 2022’s Dirtnap Fest) and Micah Why (Kitbashes, Mission Giant, Faux Fox). Copy/pasting Ryan’s summary of the project from a piece on Brooklyn Vegan: “Using my old Electribe sampler and weird digital guitar synth pedal, I can usually bash out an idea and almost have it complete as I’m working on it. I don’t have to bring it to the band to flesh it out. I’ve been obsessed by harsh digital noise and letting go of worrying about analog warmth when recording.” And from the Bandcamp page: “Born out of frustration with analog fetishism and too many human band mates, O-D-EX uses the immediacy of digital noise and trashy drum samples to transmit ideas directly into existence. Main influences: Chrome and Mantronix.” It is VERY electric, super-dark, a very underground 80’s club vibe. Besides “Ley Line,” my top tracks are the opener “Spring Break,” “S Drive” and the breakneck “So Nice” which totally reminds me of Industrial Dance night at the Option back in ’88.

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Convert at Promises, March 3rd 2023

Anyway, Unrestrained is a collection of six remixed tracks from their 2022 LP Saves and it’s amazing. I think I actually like the remixes even better than the originals. Super extra dark, with the industrial sound amped into EBM territory. Think early (good) Ministry, Front 242, Nitzer Ebb meets The Cure, Bauhaus and Siouxsie. I 100% would have been dancing to these tracks on industrial night in the 80’s. “Watch It Burn (Blood Remix)” and “Bleached Bones (Vic Dagger Remix)” are ass-shaking amazing. I also love the swirly dream-synth accent on “Nightbursts (TransAmvania Remix)” and “Death Mask (Cellmate Remix)” is terrifying — in a good way. I also must give a shoutout to the sludgy track “Cold Motive (Guerrilla Ghost Remix)” mostly because I know one of the Guerrilla Ghost guys. You can get your own copy here.

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We saw Convert perform a couple of times pre-pandemic (they formed in 2019) and just recently saw them play when they opened for The Pack A.D. here in Milwaukee at the end of March. The lighting at The Backroom Colectivo sucks so it’s hard to tell how dynamic Convert are from these photos.

My top tracks from Saves are the EBM/Nitzer-Ebbish opener “Bleached Bones,” “Concrete Life” which recalls the good, old Ministry “Stigmata” and “Thieves” days, Convert’s first video/album single “Slow Choke” and the nihilistic “Watch It Burn,” which Dillon described to Milwaukee Record as exemplifying “the fruitless fight to solve the overwhelming horror of humanity and then ultimately accepting its hopeless cycle. It’s meant to express the beauty of our chaotic existence and the liberating feeling of letting go because no one is bothering to put out the flames. The song describes generations of souls watching in awe of the all-consuming flames until the last generation inherits the ash.”

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Trait’s singles were the only releases by Pailhead besides another single: “I Will Refuse” backed by “No Bunny” from 1987 which features Eric Spicer (Naked Raygun) on drums. Those two tracks were included with the CD release of Trait in the 90′s. From Allmusic: “Pailhead was clearly a fun project to work on for two musicians who were allowed to make some music outside of their respective genres, and though their actual output was rather minimal, the record still stands as a bizarre time capsule of aggressive musical fringes from the 1980s.”

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