A Mix Of Bricks & Valentines: Lyrics 1979-2009

(Paperback)

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G.W. Sok co-founded the internationally acclaimed independent Dutch music group The Ex in 1979. He became the singer and lyricist more or less by coincidence, since he wrote the occasional poem and nobody else wanted to sing. At the same time, he turned himself into a graphic designer of record sleeves, posters and books. A Mix of Bricks and Valentines showcases the lyrics G.W. Sok wrote during his three-decade period with The Ex. More than 250 agitprop lyrics, poetry and rants are included, along with an introduction by English journalist, author and musician John Robb.

Reviews

"Lyrically, The Ex is also in a class of its own. This is rebel punk's finest hour."
--SF Weekly

"Deep intellectual analysis of geopolitics and fearless insertion of their socio-anarchist perspective is a bold, defining path drawn by The Ex. Few of their peers, either in their nascent days in the late '70s and early '80s, or now amidst all the emo-punk caterwaulers, have equaled this loud, defiant cry."
--Pop Matters

"There has always been space in The Ex"s music, space filled by singer G.W. Sok with socially engaged lyrics, which, from the very start, transcend by far the sloganesque tongue of most of his punk peers."
--HUMO

"Lyrics with insightful socio-political standpoints. They are influential, provocative, creative, perceptive, and above all defy categorization. Everything punk & art intended to be from the start prior to being commodified."
--KJFC

Author Bio

G. W. Sok is the cofounder of the music group The Ex and was their vocalist and lyricist from 1979 to 2009. Together the group played close to 1,400 concerts and released 25 albums. John Robb is a musician and the author of Death to Trad Rock, The Nineties, The North Will Rise Again, and Punk Rock: An Oral History.