(Remastered Catalog)

Reviewed by:
David Peisner

Los Angeles


Wild Gift


Under The Big Black Sun


Like their cross-continental contemporaries Blondie, X were fueled by the creative partnership of a husband-and-wife duo leading a band who played too well to really be called punks. But where Blondie’s haughty style was pure New York, faux-European sophistication and all, X was defined by the trashy glitz of L.A. and an expansive interest in rockabilly and country music that would go on influence bands from Social Distortion to Wilco. Rhino’s reissue of the band’s first three albums sheds deserving light on their legacy. Though many consider their admittedly startling debut, Los Angeles, to be their apex, it’s actually the follow-up, Wild Gift, that has aged best. A snarling ball of meth-buzzed punkabilly riffs and potent pop hooks, songs like “We’re Desperate,” “This House That I Call Home,” and “When Our Love Passed Out On The Couch,” work both as vivid descriptions of the young (and already troubled) marriage between vocalist Exene Cervenka and vocalist/guitarist John Doe, and as broader social statements. None of the rarities tacked on to the end of these three reissues are all that revelatory, but with or without them, these three albums are as impressive a run as any band’s made in the last 30 years.

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