Heks Orkest

Endless Scroll [7-inch] (2010)

Brian Shultz

Heks Orkest cull members of some of RVA's best in punk, hardcore and indie rock. There's a lot of alumni to name-check–Avail, Engine Down, Denali and Sparta among others–but the band's debut 7" single, Endless Scroll is a strong debut standing out with its own sound.

What Heks Orkest seem to offer here is wildly sneered indie-punk-hardcore perhaps reminiscent of earlier Frodus, but with a considerably snottier tilt, as evidenced by opener "Endless Scroll for Player Piano". Guitars alternately plow and ping-pong around in erratic motions for "Tinnitus Festival", a spazzy, static- and noise-ridden B-side that shows off the band's scratchy-throated and inherently herky-jerky looseness. Spoken-word narration at track's end brings Dischord acts like Nation of Ulysses or maybe even Dag Nasty to mind before the song reels to an abrupt halt.

Vaguely creepy and interestingly unique, Heks Orkest's members have spent plenty time in the past going for a noisier, more entertaining take on whatever punk subsect they were participating in at that given time. It seems some of them still have a penchant for something different, so fans of those acts should find good times in Endless Scroll too.