Blaqk Audio - 'CexCells'

Culties who’ve got a fire inside should be ready to get their black dance o’ doom on with CexCells, the belated debut from AFI side project Blaqk Audio. AFI has been a constantly evolving beast this millennium, as the group has mixed elements of electronica/ darkwave/ industrial/ whatever with its hardcore/ punk/ goth/ whatever on albums Sing the Sorrow (“Death of Seasons”) and Decemberunderground (“37mm,” “Love Like Winter”), so it’s only fitting that frontman Davey Havok and guitarist Jade Pudget further explore these more synthy elements on CexCells.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: if you’re somehow hoping that Blaqk Audio will be anything like AFI’s Answer That and Stay Fashionable or side project Son of Sam’s Songs from the Earth, don’t bother with CexCells. You’ll just blow it off as a Depeche Mode MIDI tribute CD. But, for fans intrigued by the elements of Decemberground that headed for the dance floor instead of the mosh pit, CexCells is a must-have album. It is exhilaratingly fast paced and tuneful, chock full of the dark pop that Havok and Pudget have been perfecting for years.

CexCells opens with lead single “Stiff Kittens.” It’s probably the best choice for a single because, on an album that heads in so many dancetastic directions, “Stiff Kittens” is the safest way to sell the record. While Pudget works the programming and keyboards, Havok comes on with a dark, David Gahan-like baritone. The track pursues different rhythms throughout, but always remains catchy. From the subdued verses to the tripped out bridge to the dance epidemic of a chorus, “Stiff Kittens” is a brilliant piece of pop.

But while “Stiff Kittens” is a great lead single, it’ll ultimately take a backseat in listeners’ minds once they hear track two, “Between Breaths (An XX Perspective).” As a lyricist, Havok has traveled from the realm of the deeply silly (“Cereal Wars”) to the deeply depressed (“Miss Murder”) over the last decade-plus of his career. But here, he stops being sad, possibly because this song is about some extremely deep spelunking. Easily the most erotic song Havok/Pudget have ever composed, “Between Breaths” achieves a Prince-like level of dirtiness without actually using explicit language per say. Basically, there’s no profanity. The lyrics will still leave you blushing, though: “Please, please, please, don’t take it easy on me/Just make it harder to breathe/So climb on top/And I’ll never stop/‘Til I make you forget who you are.” Oh yeah, that’s sexxxy, baby.

There’s a wealth of other tracks worth name checking on CexCells. “Snuff on Digital,” “On a Friday,” “Semiotic Love” and “Again, Again, and Again” all bring the Q102 epileptic techno-core hard, not to mention the sexual content. Slower ditties like “Cities of Night” carry a digital cool with them.

There’s only one track worth mocking, really, and that’s “The Love Letter.” It’s an overwrought, electronic power ballad, and not even live instrumentation could save the cheese factor that spreads when Blaqk Audio hits the chorus. Other than that, just be careful where you buy the album from, as there are two versions with different thirteenth tracks (spooky!). If you want to hear Blaqk Audio cover Blur’s “Girls and Boys” without changing it up much, head to Hot Topic. If you want to hear another new BA track, head to Best Buy for “Mute” and iTunes for “Black Electric.” Stinks to have to buy the album three times, but CexCells is still a thrilling dancepocalypse for those willing to hear it. Begun as an homage to their influences, Havok and Pudget have created an album brilliant enough to secure them their own spot amongst their heroes.