Exene Cervenka assumes lead vocals for much of the track, with her lyrics recalling memories and vignettes from the early days. Exene’s iconic harmonies with singer/bassist John Doe kick in during the chorus, as Billy Zoom holds down slick rockabilly riffs alongside the steady rhythms of drummer DJ Bonebrake.
“X is a great band name; also a bad idea sometimes when it gets lost in print or on the marquee,” Exene said in the press announcement for the album. “Gotta have a sense of humor. We all did in the early days. Los Angeles was a carnival of weirdness back then, with left over traces of silent movie stars, long haired hippies, bikers, and brand new self-defined punks doing anything we wanted. When we started touring the country we found like-minded people everywhere, and somehow they all found us. Even if the X was lost on the old marquee.”
The old-school edits in the music video harken back to the excellent 1986 documentary about the band, X: The Unheard Music , and the clip was purposefully meant to evoke the old docs and videos of the classic punk rock era.
“Inspired by ’80s video art and the great punk documentaries of the time; shot on VHS, edited tape to tape, using Polaroids + 35mm photos, smashed together with analog video mixers and CRT televisions,” commented directors Gilbert Trejo and Shane McKenzie. “It’s a tornado of the past and present — Ed Colver’s photos were a blast to video mix and they are the glue holding it all together.”
X will be supporting their final album with an extensive US farewell tour that kicks off on July 7th in Kansas City, Missouri, and runs all the way through an October 30th show in Columbia, South Carolina (get tickets here ). Even more dates are still to be announced.
Pre-order Smoke & Fiction via Fat Possum Records . Below you can stream the video for “Big Black X” and see the album art, tracklist, and full list of tour dates.
Smoke & Fiction Artwork:
Smoke & Fiction Tracklist: 01. Ruby Church 02. Sweet Til The Bitter End 03. The Way It Is 04. Flipside 05. Big Black X 06. Smoke & Fiction 07. Struggle 08. Winding Up the Time 09. Face in the Moon 10. Baby & All
X 2024 Tour Dates: 07/06 – Kansas City, MO @ The Uptown 07/07 – Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room 07/09 – St. Louis, MO @ Del Mar Hall 07/10 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall 07/12 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Varsity 07/13 – Chicago, IL @ Square Roots Festival 07/14 – Chicago, IL @ Fitzgerald’s 07/16 – Detroit, MI @ The Masonic 07/17 – Kent, OH @ The Kent Stage 07/19 – Indianapolis, IN @ The Vogue 07/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent 07/26 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent 07/28 – Costa Mesa, CA @ Pacific Amphitheatre 07/30 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up 08/19 – Menlo Park, CA @ The Guild Theatre 08/20 – Menlo Park, CA @ The Guild Theatre 08/22 – Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory 08/23 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory 08/25 – Portland, OR @ The Aladdin 08/28 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot 08/30 – Denver, CO @ The Summit 09/01 – Albuquerque, NM @ The El Rey 09/22 – Derry, NH @ Tupelo Music Hall 09/23 – Boston, MA @ The Wilbur 09/25 – Albany, NY @ Empire Live 09/26 – Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall 09/28 – Falls Church, CA @ The State Theatre 10/01 – Patchogue, NY @ Patchogue, Theatre 10/02 – Philadelphia, PA @ Keswick Theater 10/03 – New York, NY @ Town Hall 10/05 – Middletown, CT @ Harbor Park 10/18 – Austin, TX @ The Paramount 10/19 – San Antonio, TX @ Empire Live 10/21 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall 10/22 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater 10/24 – Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall 10/25 – Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl 10/26 – Birmingham, AL @ Iron City 10/27 – Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse 10/29 – Charlotte, NC @ The Neighborhood Theatre 10/30 – Columbia, SC @ The Senate
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