Without warning, they just did it: here’s Alphabetland. Los Angeles’ original punk rockers X just released their first record in 35 years with their original lineup. Dropped via Bandcamp and Fat Possum Records with no advance warning, Alphabetland is an absolute revelation.  

X have been road warriors for decades, and I was lucky enough to see them at Charlotte’s Neighborhood Theater a few years ago. The members are now in their mid 60’s, yet this band rocked like a bunch of teenagers. I left bewildered at how good they were and seeing them honestly helped me pick up a guitar again and start playing. Totally inspirational. 

So, to Alphabetland. The record jumps out of the speakers on the opening title track, guitarist Billy Zoom hitting a muted riff very reminiscent of The Ramones’ ‘I Wanna Be Sedated,’ while singer Exene Cervenka never sounded better: 

Blue you wear like martyr blue 

Atom bomb bruises, cold war flu 

Blue you wear like martyr blue 

Atom bomb bruises, cold war flu 

This song smashes into ‘Free,’ following a long tradition of X with lyrics about personal liberty and responsibility, bassist Joe Doe singing: 

The church is burning 

Bullets are flying 

You hurt my sister 

She didn't do nothing 

The sky is fire, the rocks are sighing 

It's all so quiet at the end 

‘Water and Wine’ has that pseudo-rockabilly stomp that X perfected through songs like ‘Breathless,’ with a killer Zoom solo and Exene singing about the class divide: 

The divine that defines us 

The evil that divides us 

There's a heaven and a hell 

And there's an "oh well" 

Who gets passed to the head of the line? 

Who gets water and who gets wine? 

 

 

‘Strange Life’ is a punk rager, Exene and John singing together as they do on  their seminal Los Angeles release. Drummer D.J. Bonebrake is all over this record, smashing, crashing, and with the addition of Doe’s fluid bass and Zoom’s raw growl, this is X. Not some new, slicked up version, but the old friends you knew from Wild Gift and Under The Big Black Sun. 

‘I Gotta Fever’ has a cool, inverted chorus progression, and ‘Delta 88 Nightmare’ (a very old X song) is one minute and thirty seven seconds of slam dancing punk; it’s just the best.  “Star Chambered’ is a classic X tune in that it mixes the very personal and the outside world, think of songs like ‘The World’s A Mess, It’s In My Kiss’ as an example: 

I could have been star chambered 

On the tree of rock 'n' roll life 

Or maybe a railroad wife 

I was railroaded once or twice 

I might've dodged a bullet chambered 

In the alley running for my life 

I'm sure that I dodged a knife 

I finally learned my lesson once or twice 

Where did I put my wings? 

I can never find those things 

Now I'm running, running late 

I might be stuck here at my gate 

Though you may be dearly departed 

Dearly departed 

I'm just getting started 

‘Angel On The Road’ is a tale of being on the road, full of Zoom’s buzzsaw guitar and Bigsby vibrato chords. ‘Cyrano DeBerger’s Back’ was a song John Doe wrote for the Flesh Eaters, but here is a great, almost funky take with some of the best singing I’ve heard from John and Exene, and a Billy Zoom saxophone solo (!).  

Ending up with the thrashing ‘Goodbye Year, Goodbye,’ X is getting a little nostalgic: 

Beats keep beating my brains in 

Everyone's talking so loud 

Why can't we stop for a minute 

And pull away from the crowd? 

What gives us the right to be so loud this silent night? 

Guzzling tequila, spilling cups of coffee 

One lover died but another is hoping 

Chimes are chiming for hearts that are broken 

Goodbye year, goodbye 

Please don't make us cry 

So long year, so long 

We'll sing you out with a song 

This is a powerful, triumphant record. If you thought X was played out, they have a clear message for you: they are as vital and important as ever, maybe even more so. Reviews I’ve read say Alphabetland doesn’t stand up to their first few records. I’m not so sure about that. I know I need this new X album in my life. I think you do, too. 

----Steve McGowan 

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