X “Smoke & Fiction” 2024. Fat Possum Records, limited edition blue vinyl. The punk legends last record (their 9th LP). Smoke & Fiction went to no. 49 on the UK indie charts. We caught X on their farewell tour in July, a few weeks before the album’s release on August 2nd (they did have them for sale at the show but we had preordered the limited variant) and therefore weren’t familiar with the new material. But besides their amazing old catalogue which they absolutely nailed (highlights for me always “Los Angeles” and “Johnny Hit and Run Pauline”) They also slayed their new material – even though I hadn’t heard it til that night I certainly was dancing my ass off.

X at Turner Hall, Milwaukee July 2024

X at Turner Hall, Milwaukee July 2024

Smoke & Fiction is incredible, one of their best releases. My top picks are the thrashing “Sweet Til the Bitter End” (which is also a fantastic duet between John Doe and Exene), “Flipside” which is catchy, harmonic and ass-shaking, the title track “Smoke & Fiction” which has punk and bendy rockabilly guitar, DJ Bonebrake’s thundering drums on “Struggle” are fantastic (the dude does not age!) and the garage-rock stomping “Face in the Moon.”

We have seen X many times over the past 10/15 years or so and this was definitely one of the best shows. I think they love their new record as much as the fans and the enthusiasm for it — and knowing that they can finally get off the road and put their feet up (so to speak – I have a feeling they will all be involved in some music project or other moving forward) infused extra spark into the show.