Biography
It started in a cafe in Chico, California, with a flier, covered in glitter, wires, feathers, and assorted melted items, with a three-word advertisement: “Noise person wanted.”
It wasn’t a sign. It was a sample. A tiny piece lifted from the visionary environment that the band XDS would continue building over the next couple of decades, hoarding an eclectic stockpile of collage materials/influences/approaches for assembling psychedelic dance-punk jams played with homemade instruments, blown-out samples, off-kilter drumming and dub baselines.
Shoko Horikawa had come from Japan to (the small, music-crazy college town) Chico for school, and responded to Jesse Hall’s mysterious flier and a pitch to collaborate on making interesting sounds. The partnership would end up featuring her syncopated polyrhythmic drums alongside his vocals (through a duct tape-and-PVC-pipe mic) and custom-built Guitar-o-bass, plus synths/samplers and various noise-making devices. The two-piece Experimental Dental School eventually morphed into XDS as the duo moved the operation from Chico to Oakland to Portland and back to Chico, touring the world (playing alongside the likes of Deerhoof and other innovators) and releasing 11 recordings (on Cochon Records, German label TCWGA, etc.) as they went.
On the new XDS album, Bicycle Ripper, the band’s genre-bending roots are as deep as ever, but the goal now is to be less “noise” people and more “fun” people. The songs are weird yet cohesive, with jittery grooves and inventive hooks.
Throw a dart at the album and hit “Hot Panther, Cold Moon” for one random sample: an unrelenting fuzzed-out bass dances with a insistent drums; a sharp turn into sparse tin-can-guitar break; then a return to the dance floor with a bonus overdriven bass riff and full-throttle drums. The Panther stays hot whether she’s under the “hot hot sun” or the “cold cold moon.”
Discography
Jane Doe Loves Me (Cochon records – US) – full length – vinyl, CD, digital – (TCWGA – Germany), https://www.discogs.com/Experimental-Dental-School-Jane-Doe-Loves-Me/release/3971279
2 1/2 Creatures (2006) (Cochon records – US) – full length – vinyl, CD, digital – TCWGA (Germany), (Deleted Art – Sweden), https://www.discogs.com/Experimental-Dental-School-2-12-Creatures/release/1803267
Hideous Dance Attack!!! (2003 TCWGA – Germany) – full length – vinyl, CD, digital – (TCWGA – Germany)
https://www.discogs.com/Experimental-Dental-School-Hideous-Dance-Attack/master/1037549
SINGLES / COMPS
Valley Fever vinyl comp – Cracks In The Concrete
https://www.discogs.com/release/20672437-Various-Cracks-In-The-Concrete
–Split CD with Eniac – (TCWGA – Germany)
–Eccentrics#3 (Tenzenmen – Australia) – comp with sabot, astro can caravan
https://www.discogs.com/release/3381453-Experimental-Dental-School-Sabot-2-Astro-Can-Caravan-Tenzenmen-Presents-Eccentrics-Issue-3
–Memory Lab Split 7″ record with Japan’s Limited Express Has Gone (Memory Lab – Japan) – https://www.discogs.com/master/616252-Experimental-Dental-School-Limited-Express-Has-Gone-Experimental-Express-Explorer
–Deleted Art Split (Sweden) – 7″ record with Japan’s Limited Express Has Gone
-Cragstan Astronaut Split (Cragstan Astronaut – Italy) – 7″ record with Italy’s Blown Paper Bags
https://www.discogs.com/release/2244921-Experimental-Dental-School-Blown-Paper-Bags-Split-7
–Amoeba Music Compilation Vol. 5 (Hip Hop Slam – US)
–Lovers & Lollipops Compilation (Lovers & Lollypops – Portugal)
-Radioactive Decay – A Drop Dead Compilation Of Art Music
Press
It's is easy to understand why the band's music sends their fans into hysterics at their live shows.
–Stephen Cramer, AllMusic.com
"some of the strangest, yet musically impressive melodies concocted within the past three years.
–Jay Ziegler, consequenceofsound.net (Jane Doe Loves Me review)
"XDS manages to make some highly accessible experimental pop music, and the track below should explain the group's popularity to the uninitiated: it is a gorgeous, spacy, intensely weird piece of songwriting."
–http://www.xlr8r.com
simply phenomenal
–Andrew R Tonry, Portland Mercury
XDS took a set of drums and a guitar and electrified the anxious crowd.
–Jennifer Monteagudo, CMJ.com (Irving plaza NYE CMJ show review)
surprisingly gnarly riffs
–Nate Chinen, nyTimes.com
"Experimental Dental School is one of the most exciting and stunning bands I've heard in a while.", "There's a life and energy behind their work that's rare and jaw-dropping"
–Michael Mannheimer, bibabidi.com
There's nothing not to love about these 12 off-kilter stabs of exuberantly creative freak rock.
–Scott A. Gray, Exclaim Magazine
In a Word: Bold", "Grade: A
–Aidan Castori, Aquarian magazine
as fun and clever as it is categorically indefinable.
–Samuel Sharkey, Performer Magazine - album review
Experimental Dental School creates music filled with vision, wit, and vitality
–SF Bay Gaurdian
This is the affirmation of the thesis that music can indeed be art.
–yellowisthenewpink.com
All in all this record kicks an unreasonable amount of ***
–Ryan Powers, Slug Magazine
Best of The Bay Award "If you haven't checked out EDS's debut album, Hideous Dance Attack!!!, do so immediately!"
–SF Bay Gaurdian
"the perfect soundtrack for cruising through the city on a beautiful day." "these are the dance traxx!!!! you will not be disappointed with this record!!!!"
–Noella Marie, KUSF
"2 1/2 Creatures confirms that X.D.S. are more than capable of making themselves equally at home in indie post-rock and no wave basements, jazz joints and circus tents." "very coo!"X
–aquariusrecords.org
I was so amazed by their creativity
–Brian Shevlin, Heckler Magazine Portland OR
The band's full-length debut, "Hideous Dance Attack!!!" was recently released to excited, if not baffled critical acclaim.
–Dusted Magazine