Catch My Shoe

G.W. Sok was The Ex’s singer for 30 years. As the Dutch band went through the membership upheavals that any punk survivor will, Sok and guitarist Terrie Hessels were the only constants. But the group’s instrumental core has been together since 1990, and they’ve developed into a Beefheartian rhythmic juggernaut, capable of creating knotty, lithely coordinated tumbles of guitars and drums that pulverize what’s passing for punk these days. Recorded by Steve Albini and mastered by Bob Weston, Catch My Shoe features a new singer, Arnold de Boer, who has a younger, less “elder-statesmen-spitting-wisdom” voice than Sok. De Boer’s youthful voice places The Ex back in the conversation about what punk is and where it’s going. All you young punks? Respond.