The Singles Bar: Exnations ‘Can’t Get Hurt’ with hazy-eyed new manifesto

Welcome to The Singles Bar, a review series focused on new single and song releases.

Fear is a bone-deep needle, slicing its pressure and grim truth from an unknown space in between our nerves and often zapping us of any real sense of self. It’s alright, though; it can be a cathartic emission which in turn we utilize to carve out our own path, however tortuous it might be along the way. A trio of musicians, singers and songwriters known as Exnations ⎯⎯ Sal Mastrocola (vocals, guitar, synth), Dan Ciarrocchi (guitar) and Taylor Hughes (drums, synth) ⎯⎯ seize their lives back with a sparkling, rock-twisted single called “Can’t Get Hurt.” A numbing exploration of imminent peril, the song bends the emotions like a ray of light bolting through a prism. “Danger seems so crazy right now,” they pound, warping their senses (and ours) in stunning fashion. “Is that all you think about?”

It’s a reckless but careful exhibition of their own journeys and coming together from opposite sides of the country. But in true millennial form, they took to the interwebs to connect their minds and bodies and spirits as cohorts for devious and magnetic schemes. “You can wait for weekends, stay in bed all day / You can blame the seasons, next one’s on its way / You can write one more song,” Mastrocola professes, a ghoulish “Everyone gets scared” haunting just behind him. “Flightless birds can’t get hurt,” he then supposes. “Buried in the sand…”

It’s quite mournful once you sit with it for a few spins. The glisten of electric guitar and ceaseless percussion are enough to knock you off your feet, too. As it climaxes, the alt-pop troupe reengage those feelings of angst and anxiety into long-form solutions, shocking their systems from slumber and looking skyward for their fate written in the stars. “You can wake and get paralyzed, looking at a world you don’t recognize / You breathe in deep, look that bastard in the eye / I ain’t in control, and that’s alright…” Ultimately, it’s shamelessly empowering. The shroud of darkness might take some time to lift, but we’re at least in a much better place than from the start.

The band’s debut EP, Tiny Sound in the Dark, is expected this spring.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

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