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Ex-Breathers Blast Themselves Into ‘Past Tense’ on Crushing New Record

Tallahassee DIY rabble-rousers Ex-Breathers rasp like they have no more air in their lungs — and its no wonder, they’ve spent it all howling out the words to their latest collection of damaged art-punk, Past Tense.

Produced by Justin Pizzoferrato (Speedy Ortiz, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth) and following up last year’s 12-songs-in-11-minutes EP, ExBx, Past Tense is another post-hardcore combustion of bruising bass (“Forced Binaries”), heart-palpitating percussion, metal-denting riffs (“Existing to Remain”), and skin-peeling shouts and growls.

This one, too, barely breaches the 25-minute mark, but the damage it gets done in that span is worth the brevity. It’s as crushing and confusing as you might expect, but there’s a vibrancy and intelligence — a serpentine approach to the lead-footed drive that separates it from the hardcore scene that spawned it. Listen for yourself below, and find Past Tense on October 23 via Exploding In Sound / Hex Records.