Song of the Day: Ex Hex - Don't Wanna Lose

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is "Don't Wanna Lose" by Ex Hex from the 2014 album Rips on Merge.

Ex Hex - Don't Wanna Lose (MP3)

In the brief time she spent with Wild Flag, Mary Timony learned one of rock’s great truisms: The quickest path to the heart is the most direct — as well as another: Girls just want to have fun. The ex-Helium frontwoman strips down her sound in her bewitching new project, Ex Hex. Following a catchy 7” for the retro rocker "Hot and Cold" ("Is that Lou Reed or Joan Jett?”), the DC-based trio have just released their debut LP this week on Merge. On Rips (which it does), Timony, along with drummer Laura Harris and bassist Betsy Wright, throw devil horns at 70’s and 80’s rock riffs while keeping a sharp enough edge to sound new and raw. The album's initial track, and today's featured song, "Don't Wanna Lose", blasts out of its garage-y reverbed guitar opening, jumps immediately into the power-pop fast lane, and heads straight for the New Wave valley. It's a pace that never lets up for all of Rips... and you won't want it to ever stop.

Ex Hex is currently on tour and will be in Seattle on October 18, playing Barboza, and also performing LIVE on KEXP on Sunday, October 19, at 1PM. Find out where else they're playing and listen to more music on their website and Facebook page. For now, watch the official video for their first single, "Hot and Cold":