These days, modern obscurities just don't happen very often with the power of Google, message boards, Micepiss profiles, etc. at our disposal. You almost have to go out of your way to elude the probing tentacles of the monolithic information bank that eats everything in it's path, also known as the internet. That being said, there's an overlooked band from the Portland, OR area called the NiX that have been quietly (but not to their neighbors) doing their own thing for the past two years, and they just happen to have released their second 7" EP by themselves, and guess what? They don't really seem to mind that you don't know about it. Forming out of the remains of the great and also hopelessly obscure Bedpans (who also put out a self-released 7" in an edition of 300 in 2004), and also featuring Rob of the Minds and Flip Tops, the NiX haven't seemed to venture too far out of the Pacific Northwest, yet their eponymous little 7" record left a few waves of delightful disgust to the ears of a handful of reviewers that same year. Oddly enough, the lack of information about a band is sometimes all it takes to get people talking, then drooling, and sure enough their decision to only press up a few hundred copies of their debut EP managed to get some people hot enough under the collar to throw down some serious cash in recent weeks. But lucky for you, the boys in the Nix had a great second swing at bat and throw another one-sided 7" into the air and this time it's aimed right at your head. Shitty gas station sunglasses with N-i-X drawn on in Liquid Paper may bring to mind the 'chic' garage-sale look of the Spits, and on their brand new release, the glasses make another appearance and show that the guys are taking a gut-level stab at skateboarding, complete with hilarious spit-take shots of them each carving on the same bank inside the sleeve. Don't let that fool you into thinking this is some baggy-pants pop garbage from Orange County, as it's completely the opposite. The NiX sound is firmly locked in time, and their short, snotty and antagonistic songs about bad teeth, meth-heads and mods is enough to make me smile and appreciate the fact that they decided to put all 3 songs on the same side of the record, therefore saving you the energy of having to flip it over. Nasty, anti-social lo-fi scuzz is in short supply these days, and I'd guess if you're a fan of the Boom Boom strain of budget-rock (think Fe Fi Fo Fums, Flying Dutchmen), crossed with the dirty vibe of the early Spider Babies, the Nix would be right up your alley. Order the "Speed Freaks" EP here.
