Los Angeles; Wild Gift; Under the Big Black Sun (2008)

With a sonic vroom as powerful as a beefy Harley, and a prickly intelligence that laid to waste every other '80s West Coast band, X made mature punk with cojones. The nine tracks on Los Angeles, the band's 1980 debut, are stretched taut as a spring; John Doe and Exene Cervenka's skewered harmonies made them the George and Tammy of urban dislocation. Wild Gift refines the punkabilly formula, but with sturdier melodies. Big Black Sun was the band's last great album before they devolved into an average roots-rock outfit. All three reissues contain a clutch of rehearsal tracks, demos, and live cuts. Los Angeles: A Wild Gift: A Under the Big Black Sun: B+

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