X to Play Entire 'Los Angeles' Album on 2011 Tour Featuring Screening of `X: The Unheard Music' Documentary

Timothy Sexton

X never had a top ten album or single, but remains one of the most influential rock bands of all time. Much of that influence traces back to April 26, 1980. That was the date that X released their debut album "Los Angeles." Thirty-one years and some months later, X will be on tour in September and October playing "Los Angeles" in its entirety as well as screening "X: The Unheard Music" documentary.

Mention the term punk rock and many people automatically think of thin young Brits with bad teeth and safety pins through their cheeks, but a different sort of punk subculture hit the West Coast of America like tsunami and at the forefront of that tidal wave of creativity was X. Hard to listen to songs by X without a flood of images and ideas knocking you upside the head. Can anyone hear a song by X without thinking of Billy Zoom's utterly unique presentation of guitar virtuosity? Or how about listening to a song like "True Love, Part 2" and not agreeing that no duo has ever matched the brilliant intertwining of great rock voices like Exene and John Doe?

Of course, "True Love, Part 2" cannot be found on the "Los Angeles" album so you may not hear that particular knitting together of voices. Rarely does a band go on tour to play every single song from a specific album. Once you get past Pink Floyd, it's increasingly difficult to find such an animal. The cheeky sense of humor that is exhibited by X shows up in the fact that they waited until the 31st anniversary of their groundbreaking album to to go on a celebratory tour: a celebratour.

Why "Los Angeles" and not "More Fun in the New World" which introduced X to a wider audience thanks to its less punky and more accessible songs? Perhaps because it would take another three years to get to the 31st anniversary of that brilliant entry in the X discography. Singer Exene Cervenka was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and then told it was a misdiagnosis, so maybe the band thought the original lineup would not be around in 2014. Those who will be attending the Los Angeles Tour by X will enjoy the original lineup; this is not some patchwork quilt of a few originals and some newbies to round out the lineup. Fans from Ventura, CA to Pensacola, FL will get to enjoy Exene, John Doe, Billy Zoom and DJ Bonebrake setting fire to burning houses of love from September through Halloween.

For more articles by Timothy Sexton, check out:

29 Punk Rock Essentials for Your Collection

What was the Paisley Underground?

Gang of Four and Pop Music as Marxist Critical Theory

Published by Timothy Sexton - Featured Contributor in Arts & Entertainment

Timothy Sexton was named this site's very first Writer of the Year. Today he has two daily columns and one weekly column on Yahoo! Movies as well as frequent irregular contributions. Mr. Sexton was twice nam...  View profile

1 Comments

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  • Jeff Musall8/4/2011

    Dude know about a tour, you have me scrambling to see if they are coming up my way....

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