The splendid adventure of X, one of the most personal bands of the Los Angeles punk scene of the 1980s, has come to an end. The recent Smoke & Fiction it is the last album, a probable prelude also to the farewell to the scene. The health of guitarist Billy Zoom has been precarious for some time and singer Exene Cervenka has also overcome severe physical tests. A wonderful band, born in the Californian metropolis in a very troubled era on a social level and in which underground music was balanced between commercial pop on the one hand and the very violent and intransigent nascent local hardcore scene (from Black Flag to the Germs to the Circle Jerks ). Exene, bassist John Doe, Billy Zoom and drummer DJ Bonebrake instead created a sound formula in which, alongside energy, urgency, punk malice, they inserted country, rockabilly, blues and wonderful melodies in which the voices blended and harmonized to perfection, bringing to mind the chorality of Jefferson Airplane. And in times when the past was considered absolute evil they called on the production none other than Ray Manzarek, keyboardist of one of the most classic bands of traditional rock, the Doors.
The result was an inimitable mixture, explosive but at the same time introspective, with lyrics that were not just invectives but delved into social problems, into the desperation of the marginalized (“Every two weeks I need a new address, landlord, all our fucking life is a disaster, we are desperate, get used to it” in We’re Desperate), in everyday life (“Dawn comes early for the working class and continues to arrive, sooner or later”), in street life, in romanticism, putting it all into urban poetry.
THE SECRET
“We were quite self-destructive at first, but we did it to see the other side. It was just to try to see what’s out there – said John Doe which best describes the band’s secret -. DJ and I are more adaptable, being bassist and drummer. And me, being a songwriter, I can write in different styles. But I think Billy brought rockabilly guitar into punk rock, because no one else was doing it. No one had the skills or experience to do it. And Exene was unique because she hadn’t grown up in a band and had never sung in traditional harmonies. But in the end he created his own style.” And then that name, direct, simple, minimal, iconic, which will stand out on the cover of the first album Los Angeles from April 1980. A burning X, a gloomy reference to the burning crosses of the Ku Klux Klan. A fabulous album, among the absolute best to come out of the American punk/new wave scene, with an explosive version of Soul Kitchen of the Doors by their producer Ray Manzarek (who plays the organ on some tracks on the album). He will still be behind the mixer for Wild Gift of the following year, less successful but still at high levels, which stabilizes the popularity and profile of the band and is a prelude to their masterpiece, Under the Big Black Sun. Eleven songs that attest to his achieved compositional and stylistic maturity. As John Doe specifies: «We had already played punk rock. The time had come to broaden the dimensions of our music.”
IN ITALY
Powerful sounds, still a lot of punk, but also the poignant blues Come Back to Me dedicated to Exene’s recently deceased sister, the surprising version of a Thirties song in a Tex-Mex key, Dancing with Tears in My Eyesand the touching homage to the dark side of their Los Angeles in The Have Notsto the rooms where the defeated take refuge, the working class destroyed by a day in the factory. The world of the band is perfectly defined. Also the compositional and executive style. Exene and John Doe have recognizable and immediately distinguishable voices, an indisputable trademark, Billy Zoom weaves rockabilly textures, caresses the guitar with the attitude and taste of an elegant member of a fifties band, DJ Bonebrake is a very precise and complete drummer, never banal, always very skilled at creating complex rhythmic parts.
In 1984 they also arrived in Italy, demonstrating live a technical ability that is rare in the generically punk context (and also great empathy, friendliness and helpfulness in the dressing rooms). The anecdote that sees them stopping in astonishment in front of a PCI headquarters, with the hammer and sickle displayed on a plaque and flag, and coming out with a “but is the communist party legal in your country?” remains very tasty. Furthermore, guitarist Billy Zoom has always been a fervent conservative and practicing Catholic. In recent years Exene has also inexplicably moved towards right-wing and conspiracy-minded positions. In the next More Fun in the New World they try a more commercial route with the single True Love, Part #2an unabashedly funky dance track and a cover of Breathless by Jerry Lee Lewis. The album is of good quality but will not give the desired satisfaction. Not even the next one Ain’t Love Grand for which they abandon Ray Manzarek to rely on a new producer who gives the sound a shift towards hard rock, depersonalizing the soul of the group. Billy Zoom leaves the band and so does the next guy See How We Are shows a lost group desperately searching for a new dimension but not finding it. The songs are often good but it is clear that the initial flame has been lost, especially the road to the longed-for success. Live at the Whisky a Go-Go marks the end of an era, showing how effective they still were live, true to their punk rock origins.
THE RETURN
The 1993 comeback with Hey Zeus! it will be a new failure, remaining in the mediocrity of a sound that does not belong to him. They have time to publish the delightful live acoustic performance Unclogged with many of their hits completely revisited which once again demonstrates how excellent their compositions were. The members of the group will dedicate themselves to their respective solo careers and other projects, returning together in 2004 only for concert activity, reserved almost exclusively for their States, with some episodes in Central and South America. The 2000s will have many health problems in store for them, with multiple sclerosis for Exene and cancer to fight for Billy Zoom. And finally the now unexpected recording return in 2020 with the energetic and very fresh Alphabetland (which also includes a collaboration with Robby Krieger of the Doors on guitar, just to close the circle) and the farewell with Smoke & Fiction released in August, another album of excellent workmanship, immediate, less than half an hour of music, no frills, punk rock “like it used to be”, artisanal and “worker” as it should be.
Now that their beautiful and inspiring story is over, there remains a sense of sadness in losing such a fascinating, pure and original reality as we have rarely known. But it is John Doe himself who sets things straight and seals their artistic life to perfection: «The last thing I would want is to be thirty-five or twenty-five years old now. I can’t speak for everyone in the band, but I feel really lucky, incredibly lucky, to have experienced and seen all the things we’ve done. And we want to set an example of still being creative at this age, and still having fire, still passion and desire to create and to be a band.”
