X

Still, nothing he's done is as insane as Henry Rollins' car wreckin' hostin' job.

*looks around impatiently for Dan Perry*

I love X, one of the best L.A. bands ever.

I, too, have seen X many times and enjoyed every minute of their shows. It's good to see that they've gotten back together, though i have to confess that i've not seen 'em since 1987 and haven't heard any of their new material (assuming they have some.) Personally, i think they peaked with _Los Angeles_/_Wild Gift_, but continued to put out great albums up to and including _See How We Are_, though there was a lot of change over that time period.

-Matt, who still thinks that Billy Zoom is one of the coolest guitarists on the planet.

He'll be disappointed to hear that.

Otherwise John Doe with Ad-Rock in Roadside Prophets is best non-Alex Cox Alex Cox movie.

Wild Gift is the only album I kept, btw.

both of their albums are again available stateside.

My unconditional love for X is well documented. I've probably seem them at least a dozen times over the years.

OK, I don't really hate them, they have a couple of classic songs. It's more their attitude and their place in the Hilburnesque LA Rock Pantheon. They're my #1 "I Just Don't Get It" band.

A lot of their songs really bounce and roll along quite nicely. Great hooks for a band that fell outside the circle of commerical success.

Have to say, I agree with Arthur on that.....I hate that shit too.

Still, Billy Zoom is one damn cool motherfucker.

;^p

Ugh...I sure didn't remember Ain't Love Grand being quite this "1985," if you know what I mean. Weird that "Love Shack" is a completely different song than the one The B-52's recorded 4 years later, but still sounds like a B-52's song.

It's recorded two years later than Ain't Love Grand, but, wow, "4th of July" is such a great song (it graced a "Sopranos" episode a couple of years ago too).

The demo version of 4th Of July from the 2cd Beyond and Back comp is even better. A little less slick and eighties-afied.

Ha! I was listening to "Los Angeles" the other day and was struck by how much it reminded me of the B-52s. Not sure if that's a good thing...

Still, I enjoy X in small doses, but have never loved them. I'd like to see what they are like in concert because I've heard nothing but good things. Maybe another reunion tour will happen.

When the fuck is ATP gonna invite them to do Los Angeles in its entirety, as I've been dreaming about for some reason

the B-52s were a big obnoxious convertible jalopy tootin down a dirty back road, and x were some kind of erratic used datsun swerving dangerously, going slow in the fast lane and fast in the slow

It was announced yesterday that this tour and album will be their farewell - given their age (Billy is 76 and bounced back from cancer), I imagine this will probably be it outside of the occasional one-off.

Signed test pressings of the new album just dropped. It’s much better than Alphabetland

!!

Fat Possum surprise sold them online. All 500 were gone in less than an hour. It includes QR codes and some other goodies

I really liked Alphabetland

There's a video for the first single, "Big Black X." It's not bad. Overtly nostalgic, but that's their audience. Reminds me of "The Have Nots" from Under the Big Black Sun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKIl7EonN-k

I kind of want a signed album (like Los Angeles). Do they usually sell those at shows?

xp I really liked it too!

What a great band. I still regularly get chills when John and Exene’s harmonies collide. I’ll pick this album up for sure, sad I have a conflict that will force me to miss their last gig locally.

Great band & yes to the harmonies and Billy ‘s guitar but yeah that first single is a bit nostalgic and formulaic

exene sounds weirdly like debbie harry on the single

My thought too!

Congrats of finding this thread. Takes talent

Searching for "X" on anything is a tremendous pain in the ass. I usually have to do "X the Band" (which is what they use for social media accounts), but here I just searched "X" and looked for the topic that fell under 'I Love Music.'

(should add, I then picked the only one that was capitalized)

alphabetland was enjoyable. given i think it’s easier for them to do harm than good, i appreciate the decent output

Saw them last tonight Mpls and they were great, despite the venue which always sounds weird to me, mix was all over the place, everything needed to louder and quieter at the same time.

Highlight was a John and Exene acoustic duet on "See How We Are", I know the band (or Billy at the very least) is done after this tour, but I would pay whatever amount of money to see two of them just singing together. Last night it made me think of Alan and Mimi from Low, these two voices that were just made to be together, we are lucky to have them.

Picked up an early copy of the new record and it might be even better than Alphabetland, which I love

I’m very impressed at how good _smoke and fire_ is at la and wild gift era songwriting and delivery.

song wise, what i think of as the side 2 of this lp is very very good. I can imagine bringing the vox forward even a little more at moments? but to me as a LA and WG lover, i think this is great.

oh shit it's out?!?

Yup, released today.

Yeah, it's a more than solid farewell. 10 tracks in 29 minutes. On a purely sonic level it sounds more like Under the Big Black Sun than the first two, which is fine by me.

did not expect X and Redd Kross to have two of 2024's best albums, it's LA 1982 all over again

I am seeing them 8/30 in den. so stoked to see them. so now my last recent shows as of then are x, blondie, psych furs (who were v v good), spoon (who were great tho brief imo). squeeze and weezer were in there as other acts in there but who idngaf about. actually i like both ok but would not pay to see.

still i am def that guy tryna catch bands cheap not sucking before they die.

I was kinda underwhelmed on first listen by the new album. The John and Exene vocals & harmonies and the sound of Billy's guitar are great, but it feels like they are just using them in way that imitates what they have done in the past.

Maybe listen a second time? Or more?

Will give it a shot .

I mean I don't really X expect to change up their style at this point

yeah i almost posted earlier that expecting novelty here will be fruitless, but like i said before the poetry is effective in its prev defined early style, and it sounds quite good.

Very encouraging---but I shouldn't jump in and be Cap'n Save-an-X, when I haven't even listened yet. I expect it to be a tight performance, at least, as much as they've kept touring all these years.

Apparently these are all-new songs, unlike the previous one which finished or revisited decades-old material (which made that one feel like a final album at the time, like they didn't want to leave any unfinished business). I honestly did not expect any good albums at this point in their career and approached these last two with skepticism, but I like them both. A pretty good way of going out.

ok this is really good, better than Alphabetland I think!

i didnt know alphabetland was deeper legacy stuff. i’m just relieved exene’s contributions aren’t q anon bs. this is obv a v shorthand description of what it seems like she has said— and unfair in the way shorthanding always is.

but as i said to a v pure friend “eh sometimes u get the lyrical poet genius u get.”

"Face In The Moon" is especially great, fate has truly blessed us with this inexplicable return to form

I think the highs on Alphabetland are higher(title track, "Water & Wine, "Free") but the new one is just so solid straight through and both are well served by their relatively short run times, both I want to play right away as soon as they end

yeah they really get in and get out in a good way

i’m just relieved exene’s contributions aren’t q anon bs. this is obv a v shorthand description of what it seems like she has said— and unfair in the way shorthanding always is.things

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YC-d-6v7iCs

Saw em last night, they played really really well. long fast barrage of classics for an hour. If stool-seated zoom wasn’t xtra dynamic and granma exene was mid+ energy, doe and dj made up for it and the music was fire. getting dj on vibes and zoom on his sax for a song late in show ruled. encore included duo doe exene acoustic “see how we are,” not a core fave of mine but super effective.

Good. Sounds like a show I saw from them a few years back

I saw them in 2010 and thought they were one of the youngest sounding reunion acts I’d seen.

FWIW, opening acts announced.

If I ever do one of those rock and roll cruises, this one might be it. X, Flamin' Groovies, Bash and Pop, Steve Wynn, ...

https://www.undergroundgaragecruise.com/

The Baseball Project too? That's Peter Buck and Mike Mills (with Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon). With Tommy Stinson, X et al...very, very tempting. 90% sold out too.

I've never done a cruise, but I was recently on a boat (like a really big tour boat) out in Alaska for the first time ever - I would suggest bringing and taking some Dramamine. Those who didn't clearly didn't enjoy the boat ride I was on.

Also noticed Mark Lindsay on the bill. Is this the Paul Revere and the Raiders Lindsay? (people you thought were dead ...)

I think so! (No surprise if Steve Van Zandt did indeed curate this.) Paul Revere of the Raiders died ten years ago so that may be why people think Mark's dead.

90% sold out too

30-plus bands! i assume the musicians themselves take up 90% of the rooms on the boat.

XP Mark Lindsay has a show on the Underground Garage SiriusXM channel.

X was amazing at Town Hall last night, even better than when I saw them in July 2022 with the Psychedelic Furs, and they were flat out awesome at that show. It probably helps that they were the headlining act this time around and played a longer set.

The title track of See How We Are was a wonderful surprise. I didn't think they'd play anything from that album since Billy wasn't on it, but an acoustic duet between John and Exene was a nice way of including it, a beautiful arrangement for the song. John prefaced it by saying "this goes all to all the folkies who played here," and of course one of Bob Dylan's greatest shows was at Town Hall on April 12, 1963, and I'm sure he was aware of that. Earlier in the main set, he said this might've been the nicest venue they've ever played, but that probably has more to do with the very dignified look of Town Hall, which outside of the auditorium could pass for a government building from colonial times.

Afterwards Billy went into the orchestra aisle and met a long line of fans, making a point to shake everyone's hands. A real class act, even when joking around like pretending to sniff someone's marker, he carries himself like a soft-spoken gentleman with a very relaxed and polite demeanor.

The show ended a little after 11 p.m. We never met the rest of the band before and since this might've been the only practical chance to do so, we walked a few blocks to Joe's Pizza on Broadway (which is open until 3 a.m.) then came back around midnight when the crowd had finally thinned out and the crew was loading out. It may have been late, but when you're in Times Square, it really doesn't feel that way at all. More than any other neighborhood, it earns the city's nickname "the city that never sleeps."

Eventually Exene stepped out, looking for their ride, and she seemed genuinely surprised to see a modest group of fans still waiting. She was very sweet to everyone, and eventually John came out, rolling his luggage and looking ready to go. He also looked surprised and (jokingly) told everyone "you don't have something better to do?" before taking the time to pose for photos, sign stuff and say hi to the fans. He was extremely nice, and after a while Exene did tell everyone, "okay, he really has to leave!" Before he left, Exene said goodbye to him and gave him a really long hug. Bear in mind, the tour picks up in two weeks anyway, which kind of made the moment all the more heartwarming. Not that there was any doubt, but it just showed how close they still are after all these years.

Later Billy came out and again was very sweet to everyone and then DJ came out last and he was extremely nice too. It finally occurred to me to ask someone about Ain't Love Grand! because a fan on social media asked if they would consider remixing it. Turns out they did have that idea a long time ago, but the multitracks couldn't be located. So I asked DJ if the band considered re-recording it since they couldn't remix it, and it sounded like he already suggested that himself but the others weren't up for it. I don't get the impression that was going to change either, but at least he tried.

It's not really the end as they will continue to do shows on the West Coast where they generally reside, and they've already booked a bunch of Christmas shows all through December (from Salem, OR to Tacoma, WA then Petaluma, Fresno, Berkeley, Sacramento, Bakersfield and Santa Ana in CA).

Yeah, when I saw them over the summer, Exene said "we'll be back!" It sounded like a sort of soft farewell, maybe no more long tours but definitely not the end-end. Kind of remarkable that these four are even standing up there together. Or, in Billy case's, close enough.

I asked DJ if the band considered re-recording it since they couldn't remix it, and it sounded like he already suggested that himself but the others weren't up for it. I don't get the impression that was going to change either, but at least he tried.

thank u for yr service <3

i liked the town hall show quite a bit, too, and yeah "see how we are" was a highlight, as was the version of "come back to me" that immediately followed, with dj on vibes and billy adding a little saxophone. i also liked that they played three or four songs from the new album, which is not the kind of thing bands doing farewell tours 45 years down the road are generally prone to do. i don't imagine smoke & fiction is an album i'll come back to very often, but the songs fit right in with the rest of the set and i appreciate that making new music and poetry and art still matters so much to them after all these years.

it's obvious, and beautiful, how much john and exene still love singing with each other. i love their forever bond.