Never exactly critical darlings, Los Angeles trio Moving Units has rested on the laurels of being one of the dance-punk revival's earliest progenitors-- at least that's what the band's fans will argue. Exercising this dance-punk grandfather clause is a highly dubious defense though, considering that a) the earlier dance-punk groups aren't, on the whole, necessarily better, and b) the Units are one sappy ballad away from having their revival membership rescinded. Whereas their 2004 debut Dangerous Dreams merely slapped dance elements together with a safety pin, Hexes For Exes waxes too sentimental to maintain the band's dance façade.
As its bitter title and sulking opener "Pink Thoughts" practically proclaim, Hexes suffers from a pretty nasty Cure streak that runs through nearly every track. Unfortunately, Units frontman Blake Miller isn't Robert Smith, and his nasally tenor only exacerbates the album's lengthy stretches of self-loathing and romantic angst. Instrumentally the band pulls off a half-decent tour through 80s goth pop, tossing in four-on-the-floor drum beats more out of habit than necessity. Of course, there are some straightforward, stay-the-course dance tracks, most notably single "Crash & Burn Victims" and "The Kids From Orange County", but they fail to overcome the Units' vanilla songwriting. The only remotely engaging aspect of Hexes is the band's subtle transformation into a pop band.
"Wrong Again"-- hands-down the catchiest track here-- mines the quasi-ironic sunny pop of Cure's early 90s material, its bubblegum chorus atoning for a half-hearted faux-Interpol verse of droning guitars. With its quirky opening riff and bubbly bassline, "Dark Walls" sounds like a radio-friendlier take on Echo and the Bunnymen, a formula better refined on the more memorable "Paper Hearts". When Miller's feeling really down in the dumps though, he drags the band down with him. After dispensing some of his strongest hooks to date, Miller's at a loss for melody on mid-tempo numbers, often settling for cheap imitation Britpop ("Kings and Queens of Nothing") or worse, indulging in his sensitive side and pulling out the acoustic ("Hearts Departed").
The fact that these purported heart-on-sleeve SOS signals sound so emotionless is the real tragedy lurking through the album. Although catchier than before, Miller never sounds anguished on Hexes but rather completely at ease as he croons over dance beats or equally stiff guitar riffs. Having formed in 2001, the band may precede the infestation of dance-punk Johnny-come-lately's, but they've never turned their headstart into any sort of musical advantage. Even sadder, Hexes's 80s fixation finds the band throwing their hat in an already over-saturated ring of Cure and Smiths soundalikes, a move that's pretty unoriginal, no matter how long you've been around.
