Smoke & Fiction by X
X stood tall among the plethora of hardcore bands that emerged from Southern California by 1980. They were fronted by a female as well as a male lead vocalist, Exene and John Doe, trading lines and singing high-lonesome harmonies in a distant echo of the Carter Family. Billy Zoom’s guitar riffs amplified the rock and roll ground rules set by Chuck Berry and Johnny Burnette. Wielding his sticks at a furious tempo, drummer DJ Bonebrake set the beat fast but never so fast that the songs were obliterated.
The LA band’s trio of albums from 1980 through 1983 are among punk rock’s finest moments. Afterward their career began to wobble from record label pressure to conform to mainstream hard rock or “alternative” models, from fissures within the group and time off for members to pursue other dreams. X have decided to call quits but not before recording a final album comparable to their best work.
Smoke & Fiction presents X’s classic sound with grace and power as they tear through a batch of 10 songs. Exene and Doe sing as well together as ever while Zoom sends the tracks skyward with his supersonic riffing and Bonebreak’s piston drumming powers the rhythm. X remains both deeply rooted and present in the moment, even as some of the lyrics, especially on the twangy, rueful “The Way It Is,” reflect on their own past. Most of the songs are more upbeat than that, each one a speeding train hurling down the tracks. Snatches of poetry can be discerned.
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