The Key Studio Sessions: XVSK

Photo by John Vettese

Impressionistic Lehigh Valley duo XVSK is about to go into a state of hibernation. When the cello-and-drums project of Trevor Exter and John Morgan Kimock was in town a few weeks back to improvise a live score to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind at PhiaMOCA, they told us it would be their last Philly show for a while – the fall and winter would be spent in studio, recording a followup to their 2011 debut EP xtrvskmk. Thankfully the guys made time to swing by WXPN and record a Key Studio Session, which we present to you today. The music is jazzy and surreal, which probably comes with the pedigree – Kimock is the son of noted psych guitarist Steve Kimock, and the duo actually formed when they were the rhythm section on his Crazy Engine tour in 2009 and 2010. John’s beats are sharp and precise, Trevor’s smooth baritone croons stories about drifters and introverts; his character studies are a little bit Leonard Cohen, a little bit Morphine. Dig in to their session tracks below – two of the songs, “Straight Shooter” and “Know-How”, will be on the next release, and we’ll bring you more details on that once we have them.