A dramatic black-and-white, high-contrast action shot of a shirtless person with short hair and glasses. They are captured mid-movement with one leg kicked high into the air toward the left of the frame and one arm raised, their muscles tensed and expression focused. The background is entirely black, making the subject appear spotlighted in the darkness.
A crop from the cover Sex Mex’s ‘Down In the Dump Trucks’ EP Credit: sexmexsux / Bandcamp

Tennessee songwriter James Lee Lindsey Jr. has been gone for 16 years, but the spirit of his ridiculous garage-pop project Jay Reatard lives on in folks like Nathan Gray.

Leader of his own Texas band, Sex Mex, Gray used to tap Ableton to help him play guitar and now has bandmates to create freaky rock and roll that blurs the lines between pop and punk.

On the road supporting a brand new EP, Down in the Dump Trucks, Sex Mex is supported by Bay area exports Wolf-Face and Pet Lizard, along with “god’s least favorite boy band,” Spanish Bombs.

A gig well worth the short road trip from Tampa or St. Pete.

Tickets to see Sex Mex play Oscura in Bradenton on Friday, Feb. 6 are still available for $10–$15.

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This article appears in Jan. 29 – Feb. 04.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...