Curxes - A Primary Question

Pre-internet, when the distribution and  way we listen to music was less complicated, things seemed a little more constant and ever present. Today however songs are like a prostitutes knickers, going up on line and then disappearing down again, particularly if an unsigned band sign a record deal or change musical direction and don’t want to be represented by their past material anymore. 

Imagine The Beatles in this world. Would they decide that after releasing Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that they no longer wanted Please Please Me to be available as they didn’t represent who they were at that point and remove it from You Tube / Soundcloud etc? The internet and digital formatting has given artists that easy choice. History can be wiped away with the click of a button.

Which is why it’s nice to see Breaking More Waves favourites Curxes release a new mini LP prior to their debut proper, compiling some of their older singles and demos from the 2010-11 period, in a physical format (CD). It’s called Precurxor (see what they did there?) and in keeping with the bands past traditions was released on the tenth of the month (yesterday).

Having picked up on the band in the very early days, a large number of the tracks on the album have already been streamed on Breaking More Waves (before they were taken down from Soundcloud). However, there are also two brand new/unreleased/old demos - A Primary Question and Lightness. It’s A Primary Question that has immediately grabbed our ears; with its 80’s moody sounding synths, twangy guitars and drum machines it reminds us a little of The Cure. A Primary Question is less dense and pummelled with industrial noise than some of their later work, sounding as if it was recorded in a near empty room with nothing but shadows for companionship. This enables lead singer Roberta’s vocal, something we’ve always thought of the band's major tool, to be shown off to full effect, veering from a sexual cooing softness (even if she is singing lines like “death is collectable” – a reference to later taxidermy related videos perhaps?) to a more commanding sternness. Good stuff. Now the only primary question is why it remained for so long as an unreleased demo?

Buy the Precurxor CD, which contains 7 songs for just £5, including postage, from Bandcamp by clicking here, or download  for £4. Bargain.

Curxes - A Primary Question