Exit Culture is an accidental band. Andy Graham and Dave Tomkins not only came together through a series of accidents, but developed their approach to music quite accidentally. It was only by accident that Andy thought to combine rock-oriented rhythms with African ones, and later, aboriginal Didgeridoo with the drum kit. Likewise, Dave’s interest in playing textured, melodic passages on bass guitar while simultaneously playing keyboards via foot-operated midi pedals developed only after the realm of guitar-driven rock ceased to inspire him, as its tendency to strong-arm the melodically and sonically curious bassist into submission induced more boredom that musical satisfaction.
While individually Graham and Tomkins produce sounds that defy convention, together they create a sound unlike any other. By layering complex musicality on top of organic and danceable rhythms, eastern-inspired melodies on top of western beats, Exit Culture marries pop sensibility and avant-garde creativity to create a blend of music that is at once familiar and foreign, inviting and challenging.
Although Exit Culture rejects the formulaic offerings of a music industry whose current decline is an index of its own lack of imagination, theirs is not a culture of retreat. Rather, it is one of defiance—one whose exit from the mainstream promises, however ironically, to appeal more broadly to an audience tired of the same old corporate drivel, an audience who wish to embrace a new form of music that is unique, thoughtful, and independently produced.
2007 sees the release of Exit Culture’s debut record, Duality, an eclectic mix of twelve songs that vary wildly in style and sonic texture. While the album’s opening song “Catapult” introduces the band with an assault of pulsating rhythms and unapologetically complicated musical passages, other tracks such as “Echo at My Back” and “The Sweetest Thing” offer straight-up grooves and infectious hooks that recall late-seventies funk and R & B. From the middle-eastern inflections of “Vajra” to the melodious, U2-esque “The Small Hours,” Exit Culture’s Duality demonstrates just how much musical ground a drum-and-bass combo can cover. Moreover, the band’s concise song structures, attractive rhythms, and strong melodies make Duality a record that can be enjoyed either as an impressive debut from a pair of ambitious “rhythm players” or, more simply, as a collection of great songs.
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