"Recorded in haste in both Iceland and England in late 1981, the performances on Hex Enduction Hour are among the band's most urgent and distinctive. The album begins with the severe provocation of "The Classical" and the terse punk of "Jawbone And The Air-Rifle," but it's "Hip Priest" that stands out as Smith's calling-card theme, a song that would become inextricable from his character (or perception thereof) in the years that followed. The elongated "And This Day" fittingly positions the band as spell-casters, closing the hour by filling every conceivable bit of space with wild, primitive percussion and whimsical electric piano."
