Review: Cex – “Actual Fucking”

Rjyan Kidwell’s rumored end under the Cex moniker features a musical palette as scattered as the cities to which the record’s eight tracks pay tribute.

Smoky electronica and David Bowie-style posturing give way to funk-rock gestures, hip-hop verses, and, of course, enough intelligent-dance backbeats to get the speakers shaking.

In the end, though, too many targets, not enough bull’s-eyes.

Favorite Track: “Chicago”

Grade: C+ – Jetty, May 2006

About the author

Justin Vellucci is a staff writer for PopMatters, Spectrum Culture, and MusicTAP, a contributor to Pittsburgh Current, and a former staffer for Popdose, Punk Planet and Delusions of Adequacy. His music writing has appeared in national magazines such as American Songwriter, alt-pubs like The Brooklyn Rail, Pittsburgh CityPaper and San Diego CityBeat, blogs Swordfish, Punksburgh and Linoleum, and the Gannett magazine Jetty. He lives in Pittsburgh.