Nerve Exhibit or N[EX] is a one man band whose debut MCD "The Horror of Amusement" comes with an appropriate title. Earlier works by him include appearances on compilation CDs such as "Strange as Angels: a Tribute to the Cure" (one of the influences you might recognize) and the TheSmokingSection.net series New National Anthem and Revolution vol.1.He claims early Skinny Puppy and New Order as his influences, but his approach is definitely different. Johnny NeRo mixes dark atmospheres of electronic sounds and drum machines with distorted vocals and pretty bad attempts at singing hooks. He seems to be stuck in the eighties with this, even though there are appreciable intentions and ideas leading toward a more modern sound, which isn't fully achieved yet. I never like it when I can't go higher than half the stars we've got available, but today's standards for recording quality and quality of music are so high (of course that is not entirely true and might start a whole different debate) that this just won't cut it and definitely doesn't nearly match any competition. Less is more, that's true, but as minimalistic as you want to go, in 2004 you just can't make a song with a kick+snare pattern, one arpeggiator and distant distorted vocals, sorry, that just doesn't do it for me anymore. But of course there is always a chance that somebody out there is looking for just that, a simple, minimal, '80es synth-ebm product. In my humble opinion, Johnny has to get down to business and keep the music pumping, 'cause that's the only way to improve his skills. Of course this is nothing but a MCD debut, so I'm not trying to be too hard or a jerk; besides whoever, like Johnny, self-releases their CDs always gets my respect anyway. I don't know if I should tell you to save the money for something better or to send him your loot to support his music and his good intentions, so I suggest you just check out his website (that by the way is REALLY a nice website, very very well done and stylish!) and listen to some of the tunes to make up your mind.