Gimme 5! Devon Milley Shares The Top 5 Records He And His Ex Press Bandmate Matt Bonded Over During The Pandemic

With ‘Gimme 5!’ we take a peek into the collections of artists we admire. The premise is simple: artists WE like share 5 records THEY love.

Ex Press are a new band I’m really exited about. I recently wrote about their first EP Itchy To Move, which Ex Press (Devon Milley & Matthew Fudge) recorded with Glassjaw frontman Daryl Palumbo. If you are unfamiliar with Ex Press, their lead single Headrest is a perfect example of their hybrid of synthpunk, powerpop, new wave and pop punk. Watch the Daniel Fried (TV’s Daniel, Bad Sports, Radioactivity) produced video below.

Given the distinct sound of Ex Press, I was curious about the band’s influences. Devon Milley, who takes charge of vocals, drums & guitar for the band, was so kind to share a Gimme 5! list with the albums he and his bandmate Matthew obsessed over during the pandemic. His list makes me even more excited for the new 3-song Ex Press single they recorded and will release later this year. [Post continues below]

Devon Milley (Ex Press): “So I approached this as the 5 albums Matt and I bonded over the most during this pandemic. We haven’t been able to spend as much time together lately as we would like because of Covid-19 but we’re always communicating, writing music and listening to music while we’re apart. We’re constantly obsessing over the same records and making each other playlists.

Ex Press started right before the pandemic hit so we managed to put most of our EP “Itchy To Move” together in person. Once lockdowns and everything started to happen here in St. John’s (Canada) we had to finish everything separately. Luckily we had some amazing guests to help with that. Here are the 5 albums we’ve been listening to and loving the most this past year.”

1. Squeeze || Argybargy

“Definitely my favorite out of the bunch. Super catchy and poppy but so much more than that. Brilliant songwriting, excellent musicianship, maybe even my favorite album of all time. Best band.”

2. Haircut One Hundred || Pelican West

“This one is a new discovery for us. About a year ago Daryl Palumbo (he mixed our EP) suggested I check it out. Both Matt and I haven’t stopped listening to it since. So smooth, catchy, funky, poppy, absolutely amazing. It sounds good on any sound system.”

3. Radioactivity || Radioactivity

“The Marked Men are the perfect punk band. I love all their albums, every single song. My favorite Marked Men songs though have always been Jeff Burke’s. This is like a Marked Men album but all Jeff songs and they’re ALL HITS. Seriously, every song is instantly memorable. Love the production on this thing, too. It sounds like a warm blanket was placed over the speakers. I mean that in the best possible way.”

4. Japan || Tin Drum

“Art-Rock, Avant-Pop, New Wave, Post-Punk; call it what you like, I call it a Masterpiece. It’s dark, perfectly executed and pristinely recorded. Absolutely essential for anyone’s collection. Mick Karn was a bass GOD.”

5. Buzzcocks || Singles Going Steady

“Matt and I obviously love punk with heavy emphasis on melody. When it comes to that stuff it doesn’t get any better than Buzzcocks. The masters. Absolute perfection in every way. It’s also a great reference for us when it comes to tones, sounds and mixing.”