“It’s gritty, battle-scarred and snotty with a Velvet Underground-meets-trash rock vibe…” – Decibel Magazine
Decibel Magazine is hosting the exclusive premiere of “Speed Of Light,” from new Brooklyn-based avant rock collective EXP, the third track previewing the band’s eponymous debut LP nearing release on Reptilian Records in September.
From the twisted family tree of Cop Shoot Cop, Lubricated Goat, Swans, Live Skull, and many others arrives EXP, a peculiar mutant hybrid, ring-tailed and sharp of tooth and claw. A new bloodline of nocturnal bug-eyed rock ‘n’ roll beasty for aficionados of the sick punk and psychedelic freak strain.
Collaborators J. Natz (bass guitar/vocals) and AE Csaky (guitars/synth) are the main protagonists of the Brooklyn-based multimedia project that is EXP. The first two songs recorded on EXP‘s eponymous debut album, “Plague” and “Hey Kid,” feature the rhythm section from Cop Shoot Cop—J. Natz and Phil Puleo—playing together for the first time in a dozen years. Puleo, called away by touring duties with his primary band Swans, left the door open for Mr. Bloody Rich Hutchins (Live Skull, Art Gray Noizz Quintet) to drum on the rest of the album, reconnecting Natz and Hutchins after they served as the rhythm section for Stu Spasm’s Lubricated Goat.
Between November 2024 and August 2025, twenty or more songs were written and recorded at Martin Bisi’s BC Studios (Sonic Youth, Brian Eno, John Zorn, Alice Donut) and Hutchins’ Studio H, which were honed down to the twelve tracks on EXP’s eponymous introductory album. Additional players making this first release possible were Stu Art Gray Spasm on guitar and Annabel Lee (Monkhammer, Amber Asylum) on violin, piano, and synthesizer. Elements of post-rock, noise rock, alternative, cinematic textures, experimentalism, and other elements meld into a noncompliant yet digestible set of songs on EXP, marking a stimulating introduction to this new band.
Natz proclaims, “‘Speed Of Light’ is another one that started as one of my bass lines over which Csaky does her thing, namely weaving a surrounding hornet swarm of guitar over and throughout. A perfectly fine way of writing a song but a less than desirable way to record. Still, this backward approach of laying down the guitar, bass and vocal tracks first and recording the drum track last seemed to suit EXP well. Drummer par excellence Bloody Ritch Hutchins came in and knocked it out on the first take. The boy does not fuck about. Lyrically, the song is made up of bar-room banter, the sort of exasperation overheard on any given bar stool in the present-day US of A.”
With their premiere of the song, Decibel writes, “It’s gritty, battle-scarred and snotty with a Velvet Underground-meets-trash rock vibe… It’s a stacked lineup, well versed in the dingy, art-damaged punk of the NYC noise scene.”
EXP’s “Speed Of Light” is now on display for public consumption via Decibel Magazine RIGHT HERE.
EXP will be released on vinyl and digitally on September 4th. Find preorders at the Reptilian Records webshop HERE and Bandcamp where other tracks are playing HERE.
EXP will tour Europe in the Spring of 2027, preceded by targeted US live engagements. In the meantime, the band will work on visual content and additional recordings, so this album is just the tip of the spear.
EXP:
J. Natz – bass guitar and vocals
A.E. Csaky – guitar, synth
Bloody Rich Hutchins – drums/percussion
Annabel Lee – violin, synth, piano
Stu Art Gray – additional guitar
Phil Puleo – additional drums
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The post EXP: Decibel Magazine Premieres “Speed Of Light” By Brooklyn Alt/Noise Rock Band Uniting Cop Shoot Cop, Swans, Amber Asylum Members/Alumni; Debut LP Drops September 4th On Reptilian Records first appeared on Earsplit Compound.