The Ex

More than 25 years after forming as a group of graffiti-spraying political dissidents, the Ex remains the Netherlands’ most formidable punk export. Singles. Period. rounds up the stash of 7-inches the group released between 1980 and 1990, planting a huge chunk of its most sought-after vinyl on CD for the first time. The group’s growth from a primitive band of proletariat hooligans into a biting and mechanical art monster is encapsulated in this collection.

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Filtering the group’s anarcho leanings through vocalist G.W. Sok’s cockney slur has long pigeonholed the Ex as a Dutch counterpart to like-minded British group Crass. The comparison isn’t unwarranted, but over time the Ex sidestepped the grotesqueries of punk in the Reagan/Thatcher era in favor of a more melodic approach.

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The kling-klang percussions of “Weapons for El Salvador” place the group on par with industrial acts like Einstürzende Neubauten. Stark, machinelike rhythms and a much more poetically evocative grind herds the music. But “Trash” rumbles with concise, staccato clatter that lurches with too much human emotion to be called industrial music.

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As this transformation from grubby guerrilla street hoodlums to powerful artists takes hold, a valuable cultural relevance is revealed. This music is chisels, drills, hammers and dump trucks — everything needed to tear down the old world order.