Published on Feb 15, 2023
Here's an interesting way for a band to come to life—San Diego's Xenos were actually the outfit that the low budget indie-rock thriller Fanboy was based on. Here they offer us four tunes from the soundtrack sessions, as they essentially leap from the silver screen and into real life with a quick EP of their eclectic post-punk.
“Left To Die” opens the listen and makes an immediate impression with its thumping drums, thick bass lines and swirling guitars, as the booming vocals allow for a firm 90 seconds of exciting garage-rock meets post-punk.
“This Isn't Anywhere” follows and is a calmer affair, where soft singing and a bit of mystery surrounds the traces of pop melodies that enter alongside the diverse range that front woman Araby Harrison hits.
The back end of the listen includes “Cold Blue Violence” and “The Loom.” The former is a bit subdued and burns slower with a very precise rhythm section that injects thicker moments as well as calm, dreamy bouts. The latter and final track is the best, and is quite pretty and textured with a very tuneful version of indie-rock, but not without some scrappy moments that only give the setting that much more allure.
The band consists of Arabella “Araby” Harrison (Jejune, And/Ors, Bartenders Bible) on vocals, Ben Johnson (Tourettes, Lautrec, The Long & The Short Of It, director of Fanboy) on drums, Alia Jyawook (Ilya, Hot Nerds, Scary Pierre) on bass, and John Cota (Rats Eyes, Hostile Combover, Death Eyes) on guitar.
These players have exceptional resumes in the area of Southern California hardcore, post-hardcore, punk and emo, and anyone willing to spend time with this very limited 7” (250 copies!) would likely also appreciate an LP if that’s an option at some point, too.