MrDave is a longtime Frenz of NSS.
He always imparts intelligent opinions in all his comments (or just says, sounds good, thanks...you know how it goes). I know from past conversations we've had that his collection of musick is vast. I know also that I have at times provided music that he didn't already have. I'm hoping I can hit a homer here.
In the winter of 1981, Executive Slacks, founder by Philadelphia College of Art students Matt Marello & John Young (joined shortly thereafter by Albert Ganss), fused the proto-industrialisms of early Cabaret Voltaire to the archly gloomy funk of Tuxedomoon along with the primitive, slashing guitars of No-Wave for an art-school Dadaist lark.
They used sound like a painter would use color & a brush. They combined tape loops & found sounds or anything lying around their house that would emit a sound. Kind of like Pop Art banality. Originally more sound collage, over time as they began to perform live & created more structured songs in a more traditional way, but with the spirit of sound collage always at the heart of their style.
The name Executive Slacks fell within the realm of the banal, the pop-art aesthetic. The name was taken from a magazine advertisement for mail-order pants: 3 for $9.99. They liked the dichotomy between the idea of the executive & the pathetic cheapness of the product. Also, the two words created an internal contradiction with “slacks” as meaning “lazy.” & they liked the contraction of Executive Slacks to Ex Slacks, the chocolate laxative.
Let's start at the beginning. Come with me now to the distant past. It was 1983...
Side 1 -
The Bus
Thirty Years
Side 2 -
Cinema
So Mote it Be
Their first full-length came out two years later. It was produced by Killing Joke founding member Youth (Martin Glover).
Side A -
In & Out
Spiders
Nausea
Magot
Smoking Man
Side B -
Electric Blues
Ecce Homo
Sisyphus
Cold
The Park
By the end of the 80s the band was gone. They reformed later with different personnel but were never the same. Although their sound was kind of a mixture of Cabaret Voltaire, early D.A.F., & Chrome, a sound that served as an influence on electro-industrial bands to come, that evolved into a genre that made stars of Ministry & Nine Inch Nails, Ex Slacks never garnered the fame they deserved. Most of their material has been post-humously released & a entirely new set of fans have arisen. In 2016 they released a set containing early band recordings, many previously unreleased, on Dark Entries.
Side A -
I Don't Know What to Do
Radiation Baby
Boring
Semi-Boring
30 Years (original version)
Inside/Out
Side B -
Filet Mignon
Join the Army, Johnny
Who am I?
Bang My Head (Against the Wall)
They Read
I'm Coming (Bedroom Version)
bonus Flexi Disc -
I'm Coming (Live on WXPN)
Put on those party pants,
NØ