It’s been said somewhere that the first Velvet Underground record sold nada, but that everyone who scored a copy went on to start a band…which if true goes double for Ex Post Facto—leading progenitors of the underground rrawk revival in NYC. A couple years back, “rock ‘n’ roll in this city was on life support,” recalls surviving member Nicky Chaos. But then somewhere below 14th Street appears lead singer and guitarist Billy Three-Sticks, trailing no baggage, no known history…just three chords, a thing for the New York Dolls and a batch of killer tunes. Some whispered that in his other life he was a visual artist; some that he was a junkie or a wastrel heir. But Billy’s whole posture seemed to say, who cares? Ex Post Facto was never supposed to be about where you came from, it was about where you were still trying to get to. Ex Post Facto ended up inspiring crowds by the hundreds. Of course, things that burn so brightly rarely burn for long. When Nastanovich died, Billy seemed to spiral inward and the band never recovered. So we’re left with this on long-player, Brass Tactics, and whatever other odds ‘n’ sods are still rattling around out there. Which if you think about it, just makes the record a more valuable document. Hell, by the time you read this, I’ll probably be back in my old bedroom, plunking my copy on the turntable, closing my eyes…and going back to the time when the city was still on fire, and the whole world lighting up for me ahead. -Land of a Thousand Dances