dj bonebrake Archives - Vinyl From The Vault

X “Alphabetland”

sfilzen — Wed, 01 Sep 2021 18:01:56 +0000

X “Alphabetland” 2020. Fat Possum Records. Rough Trade white vinyl exclusive, limited edition of 400 copies. X’s first LP with the original lineup (John Doe, Exene Cervenka, DJ Bonebrake and Billy Zoom) since 1985 (!!!!). Released digitally in April 2020, the vinyl came out almost exactly one year ago from today on Aug. 29th 2020 (it hit the UK’s Record Store chart at #7 the last week of August ‘20, the first time X ever charted) and it’s taken me that long to break the seal and throw it on the turntable. What the hell was wrong with me to take so long??!! It is…amazing. They sound as strong and fast as they did on their groundbreaking debut in 1980. It’s tight tight tight (Bonebrake!), the guitar riffs are fast and punky (Billy Zoom!) and Exene’s and John’s voices still blend perfectly. I’m hard-pressed to pick top tracks because every single song is fantastic, but to narrow it down at least a little: the title track/opener “Alphabetland,” “Water & Wine,” the insane “Delta 88 Nightmare” (recorded in 2019 and released as a single backed with “Cyrano DeBerger’s Back,” before a new album was even planned) and the punk-ripper “Star Chambered.”

Our vinyl edition came with a two-sided poster: one side with the album cover and the other with the liner notes by author and musician Willy Vlautin.

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X “Los Angeles”

sfilzen — Sun, 26 Apr 2020 12:53:40 +0000

X “Los Angeles” released 40 years ago today, April 26th 1980. Slash Records. One of the greatest punk records ever by one of the most enduring and endearing punk bands of all-time (still together and just released a new album with the original lineup like 2 days ago). The Doors’ Ray Manzarek produced Los Angeles which probably explains why it sounds so much better than X’s contemporary west coast punks (well that, and they actually could play their instruments). Manzarek also plays organ on several of the tracks, including an all-out freak-jam on “The World’s A Mess; It’s In My Kiss.” X covers The Doors’ “Soul Kitchen” on Los Angeles and improve it by a mile. My favorite tracks are the rockabilly/punk “Johny Hit and Run Paulene” and the menacing “Nausea” which were both featured in the Penelope Spheeris 1981 documentary of the west coast punk scene, Decline of Western Civilization; I think that was my first exposure to X (by way of the Germs, also in the movie and the soundtrack and my motivation to see/listen to the film and its soundtrack). I also love the title track “Los Angeles,” the opening track “Your Phone’s Off the Hook But You’re Not,” “Sex and Dying in the High Society”….pretty much the entire album from start to finish is a punk masterpiece.

We have seen X play several times and were supposed to see them again at the end of May, along with Milwaukee local hero punks Violent Femmes. Sadly, yet another show that has fallen victim to the tsunami of concert cancellations.

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The Germs “’Round and ‘Round”

sfilzen — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 14:29:07 +0000

The Germs “’Round and ‘Round” b/w “Forming (Version 2)” 2004. Alive Records, purple vinyl. “’Round and ‘Round” was originally performed by Chuck Berry (the B-side to 1958′s “Johnny B. Goode”) and appears on The Germs’ posthumously released ‘81 EP What We Do Is Secret and seems to be a nod to David Bowie’s 1971 version – Darby Crash was a major Bowie fan – the staccato rhythm and phrasing very similar to Bowie’s. The first version of “Forming” was The Germs debut single, released in ‘77, and that iteration is still my favorite, raw and rhythmically awkward, the ending has Crash bemoaning “We’re playing it all wrong. The drums are too slow, the bass is too fast, the chords are wrong, this is making the ending too long…ah, I quit.“ Version 2, on this 45, was cut “with future X drummer D.J. Bonebrake taking over for the departed Donna Rhia – Don Bolles was on hiatus; Crash’s monotone had evolved into a frantic, discordant wail; Pat Smear’s guitar is both looser and stronger, and Lorna Doom’s bass playing sounds kind of/ sort of professional. In short, they’d grown from an inept garage band figuring out how to put the pieces together to an inept punk band who, for better or worse, knew just what they wanted to do, and it’s their strength and confidence that makes all the difference in the world. The two versions of the song bookend the excellent compilation CD (M.I.A.), which ultimately tells you everything you really need to know about the Germs.” (Allmusic)

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Auntie Christ “Bad Trip”

sfilzen — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 16:21:27 +0000

Auntie Christ “Bad Trip” b/w “The Nothing Generation” 1997. Lookout! Records. Auntie Christ was the side project of X members Exene Cervenka and D.J. Bonebrake along with Rancid’s Matt Freeman. This single, recorded as a demo, was the band’s first and both songs appeared on their full-length Life Could Be a Dream. “Bad Trip” is fast and loud and full of scathing commentary on the state of the nation (for example, “all those savings & loan emptied vaults and congress says pay; tell them it ain’t your fault, this land is their land, this land is their land, I wanna hear the sound of one hand grenade clapping, America tripping I’m having a bad trip). “The Nothing Generation” is sludgy and dark, like a bad heroin trip, which the song references and bemoans in no uncertain terms. “The nothing generation lives where something used to be. It’s not that they’re so depressed, it’s just that drugs are so cheap, almost free. They’re not even trotted til they get too deep. They’re not even into Johnny Thunders cause he’s not on MTV. Stupid fucking kids, wake up! You’re like sheep sheep sheep stupid fuckin’ kids!”

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