Punk visionaries X are back with their first album in nearly three decades. The just-released Alphabetland features the LA band’s original lineup.
Although they never officially broke up, LA punks X haven’t released an album since 1993. That album, Hey Zeus!, was itself a comeback of sorts, created after a five year hiatus. X have been on intermittent hiatus ever since, with members focusing on a range of side projects including the country/rockabilly outfit The Knitters.
Listen: X – Your Phone’s Off the Hook, But You’re Not
However, a few miscellaneous releases have surfaced in recent years. The 2009 Christmas EP Merry Xmas from X saw the band tackle holiday classics ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ and ‘Jingle Bells’. X – Live in Latin America arrived in 2018 to coincide with the band’s 40th anniversary. It was the first X release to feature the original lineup since 1985’s Ain’t Love Grand!
This lineup remains in place on Alphabetland, which is available now via Fat Possum. The official credits indicate it’s Billy Zoom on guitar, saxaphone and piano; DJ Bonebrake on drums and percussion; Exene Cervenka on lead vocals; and John Doe on bass and vocals.
Watch: X – Delta 88 Nightmare
Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliott Smith, Kurt Vile) produced the new album, which was recorded in Hollywood’s Sunset Sound studios. It was originally slated for an August release, but the band decided to bring it forward in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Let’s give people – at least our audience and maybe beyond that – something that is upbeat,” John Doe told the Los Angeles Times. The record is currently only available through X’s Bandcamp page. Though, Fat Possum are apparently “working to get the record available elsewhere as quickly as possible.”
Alphabetland is entirely composed on new material, all of which was written in the last 18 months. “It blows my mind how timely [the songs] are,” Doe said in an announcement.
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