X surprise-release first album with original lineup in 35 years (listen!)
Punk legends X‘s classic debut album Los Angeles turns 40 this weekend (Sunday, 4/26, to be exact), and the band were going to celebrate with a 40th anniversary show in LA on Saturday, but obviously that’s not happening. Meanwhile, the band did just surprise-release a new album! It’s their first since 1993’s hey Zeus! and their first with the original lineup of Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Billy Zoom, and DJ Bonebrake since 1985’s Ain’t Love Grand!. Yes this is real, and the album — titled ALPHABETLAND — sounds pretty great. It includes their recent single “Delta 88 Nightmare” / “Cyrano de Berger’s Back,” which were both new recordings of songs X wrote back in the day (“Delta 88 Nightmare” was demoed during the Los Angeles sessions), but the other nine songs on the album were all written recently. Even on the newly-written songs, this sounds like classic X — there’s no mistaking those Exene/John Doe harmonies for any other band. Here’s more from Fat Possum:
While everyone is social distancing, closing ranks and donning masks while they shop, life can seem somewhat surreal to the senses. Yet, through all of the chaos, one thing is constant, music brings us together.
Now, on the 40th Anniversary of the landmark, Los Angeles, and 35 years since the original band have released an album – X, one of the greatest Punk Rock bands in music history, releases ALPHABETLAND today via Bandcamp.
The original foursome – Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Billy Zoom, and DJ Bonebrake have now made the album available for fans to purchase and by adapting to this moment, X continues to embody the same spirit they did when they began in 1977.
“When your heart is broken you think every song is about that. These songs were written in the last 18 months & it blows my mind how timely they are,” explained John Doe. “We all want our family, friends & fans to hear our records as soon as it’s finished. This time we could do that. Thanks to Fat Possum & our audience.”
Stream the album:
Tracklist
1. ALPHABETLAND
2. FREE
3. WATER & WINE
4. STRANGE LIFE
5. I GOTTA FEVER
6. DELTA 88 NIGHTMARE
7. STAR CHAMBERED
8. ANGEL ON THE ROAD
9. CYRANO DEBERGER’S BACK
10. GOODBYE YEAR, GOODBYE
11. ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD
