Legendary LA punk band X is going out on top with Smoke & Fiction.
In the runup to the release, the band announced the album and accompanying tour would be their last.
Speaking about the album process, co-lead singer John Doe told the Guardian, "It was taxing. I'm not sure we have the energy or the will to do another. As for touring, I never want us to be a shadow of what we were, I want us to go out on top."
Since forming in the late '70s, X have released nine albums and massively influenced the musical world with their trademark fusion of punk and rockabilly.
Smoke & Fiction recalls the band's early days in the Los Angeles punk scene, sounding as fresh and energetic as ever.
Dual vocalists Doe and Exene Cervenka trade lines and harmonize while guitarist Billy Zoom adds the country, and drummer DJ Bonebrake propels the band forward.
"Sweet 'Til The Bitter End" is a relationship song that could also apply to the end of their career. Doe and Cervenka were married during the band's heyday, and they pass the verses back and forth before belting out the chorus together.
"The Way It Is" mines similar lyrical territory, but slows the pace down showcasing Zoom's guitar work. His country and rockabilly background is a huge part of what made X so influential to genres of punk and Americana.
Lead single "Big Black X" is the album's centerpiece; a fragmented recollection of the chaotic scene the band formed in. In three-and-a-half minutes, there are references to drugged out nights, parties at Errol Flynn's abandoned mansion, LA intersections and more. There is no glorifying the excess, just acknowledgement of the wild times they made it through.
Must listens
- "Ruby Church"
- "Sweet Til The Bitter End"
- "The Way It Is"
- "Flipside"
- "Big Black X"
- "Smoke & Fiction"
