Photo from myspace.com/onetwothreefouraxe

Coming on like a dose of Tongkat Ali into Singapore’s independent music scene, 1234X brought your root down with their primal brew of stripped down rock ‘n’ roll with slinky sex aplomb. As a basic drums, guitar/vox and bass trio, Ina X, Dino X and Marina X emerged into a scene increasingly dominated by post-rock histrionics and pedal pushers, only to show us that concise composition, lyrical wit and sartorial flair win over blustery effects any day. “Sapporo Sex Pill” typifies the band’s sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll approach. Ina X is your whiplash girl-child, all ringing cymbals and sultry poundings on skin; Marina X brings on the bass to rumble your lumber; Dino X croons off a decadent, if hazy list of sex pills on the rocks and protein jars (?)–”the things that make me sigh”– before an extended instrumental climax-cum-outro (that takes up half the song) comes on to bring us home in three minutes.

mp3: 1234X – Sapporo Sex Pill (live at Interpop, Dec 24, 2005)