Like a web spun in the shadows, Exo’s debut release shimmers in the corners of our perception and emerges in the light, fully formed. With their delicate and idiosyncratic melodies, at once ethereal and raw, sensitive and tender yet thoroughly punk and primitive to the bone, this collection of songs broods in the space carved out by NYC DIY punk of the 2010s, but flourishes in its own habitat like a newly discovered species of butterfly. This is a concept album in the truest sense; an ode to the fragile lives of insects and the spectre of death, a meditation on impermanence and the brevity of our time on earth. Powered by Nyle’s raw and unique drumming syncopating throughout these tracks like a damaged heartbeat, the songs unfurl in washes of warm analog synthesizer, Anna’s defined and driving guitar lines, and Anahit’s plodding bass guitar pulled taut like a rubber band. But what truly sets this band apart is the unique trio of voices, each shining in their own ranges between classic punk vocals, listless siren-like calls, and intricate layered harmonies. You feel as if you’re passing through a gauntlet of voices in your ascent to the light, beating heavy on the air with fragile wings. The dynamic of collaboration—of mixed personalities and perspectives—permeates every moment of this record. On the record’s B-side you can hear the demo’s secret track “Mermaid Legend”, a sprawling whole-side composition of outsider tape music that experiments with time and space like the aural equivalent of a fly’s warbled, kaleidoscopic vision. There’s not another album quite like this. Fans of Pale Cocoon and The Nixe will hear a resonance with the playful and sublime sense of melody that permeates the album. So too will fans of Electric Deads and Chin Chin. This is an album that harkens back to the recent golden era of NYC punk and carries the torch of DIY ethics into new territories, preserving the spirit of experimentation and delivering catchiness that has become all too rare in punk these days.- Straw Man