X – Alphabetland LP (Fat Possum Records)

The Los Angeles punk rock legends are back with a new album called Alphabetland. X commences in an original line up comprised of Exene Cervenka on vocals, John Doe on vocals/bass, Billy Zoom on guitar, and DJ Bonebrake on drums, so the band sounds better than ever. This initial sonic constellation performs together again after 35 years, therefore expectations are more than fulfilled with a brand new material. To serve as a reminder, the band has previously published numerous brilliant recordings, including the legendary debut Los Angeles in 1980, but Alphabetland is a first full-length record that includes the original line up since 1985. Alphabetland presents the true spirit of the original X through eleven incredible punk rock anthems that evoke the seventies and eighties LA sound. The group sounds relevant, vital, and energetic despite being present on the music scene for more than four decades. A lot of things have changed since their formation in 1977, but X retained cleverly balanced sonic combinations based upon early sixties rock’n’roll aesthetics and foundations of furious LA punk rock scene. Therefore, Alphabetland sounds so fresh comparing it to the vast sea of latterly released records by other similar artists, mainly because of the fact that X evades conventional cliches of contemporary music. The main driving engine comprised of Exene Cervenka and John Doe used their intuition and compiled an enormous portion of ideas, while Billy Zoom and Dj Bonebrake have contributed with their recognizable signature musicianship, resulting in another incredibly orchestrated album that could easily overcome their previous recordings. The only innovation on the album is a refined sound that goes hand in hand with these numbers. Compositions such as ultra-melodic Alphabetland, potential radio hit Free, memorable I Got Fever, punk rock anthems such as Star Chamber and Angel On The Road, funky sounding Cyrano deBerger’s Back, and stalwart banger such as Goodbye Year, Goodbye are just some of the highlights of the Alphabetland, but the entire album bursts with astounding vibrations that will force you to spin this record on repeat for a while. Alphabetland has immediately claimed some positive critics, so red, green, and yellow variants of the vinyl records have already gone. However, you can still grab Alphabetland on standard black vinyl or compact disc at their Bandcamp profile.