Dead End by FEX

FEX - Dead End

Were FEX the Wildest, Weirdest German New Wave Band in 1984?

Few cult mysteries in modern music have captured the internet’s imagination quite like “The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet.” Eventually identified as “Subways of Your Mind” by the elusive German band FEX, the track became a viral sensation decades after its creation—and even made its way into a recent Hollywood blockbuster (Black Phone 2).

Now, two more lost FEX recordings have emerged from an old demo cassette: “Dead End” and “Sarah.” And they’re every bit as electrifying as the legend suggests.

On both songs, guitarist and main songwriter Ture Rückwardt joins forces on lead vocals with his former wife and musical partner Ilona Rückwardt, forming a vocal pairing that channels raw energy and eerie chemistry. What they deliver are two of the most urgent, adrenaline-fueled post-punk artifacts you’re likely to hear this year—even if they were recorded more than forty years ago.

Opening with a sharp, melodic guitar solo, “Dead End” bursts forward with uptempo drive—catchy, fierce, and full of momentum. Apparently inspired by Orwell’s 1984, its lyrics depict urban desolation—loneliness, homelessness, hopelessness—yet still shimmer with defiance in lines like, “Truth is amazing – hoping is like waiting.”

The second track, “Sarah,” dives even deeper into darkness. Mixing post-punk intensity with psychedelic textures, Rückwardt tells an imaginary story of a couple lost in drugs and spiraling through a bad trip, only to wake and realize that sobriety offers little comfort—the real world itself can be just as brutal and offers no easy escape.

Neither song makes the slightest concession to commercial trends. Instead, they feel utterly uncompromising—wild, strange, and defiantly timeless. In a world obsessed with polish and playlists, “Dead End” and “Sarah” sound like transmissions from a different planet.

Both tracks were originally recorded as demos in 1984 in the band’s rehearsal room, with Hase engineering. The newly restored versions preserve the raw spirit of the original tapes while adding subtle layers to enhance their atmosphere without losing the authentic 1980s sound. FEX hint that the untouched demo versions might surface later, possibly on a second volume of their archival EP “More Waves from the Past.”

The artwork—a 1985 photograph of a ship trapped in ice - found at the Startarchiv Kiel, perfectly mirroring the themes of isolation and endurance that flow through both songs.

Four decades later, FEX still sound like outsiders from the future. Here’s hoping they’ve got more buried treasures waiting to be released on The Outer Edge label.

https://linktr.ee/theouteredgeofficial
The Outer Edge is an independent record label from Berlin, Germany. Focused on rare and lost recordings, unissued songs from master tapes or music that never received the attention it deserved.

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