Holy dog shit!!! 😱😱😱 Like the fucking meteor that killed the dinosaurs, this brand spanking new album from X called Alphabetland just fell from the sky and lays waste to anything else you're gonna hear for the rest of this year and maybe even the year after that! Yeah, it's that fucking good, and to say that I'm dumbstruck and giddy over it is an understatement. This is a brand new album from X! Do you know how rare that is??? It's been 27 years since they last released an album, and truth be told, it wasn't that good. It was uninspired, tired sounding, stale, and lacking that cool X vibe they had on their earlier, much better releases. This album is mind blowing. It sounds great! This is the first time the original OG lineup has recorded in 35 years, and if you need more of a reason to feel old, they released this album on the 40th anniversary of the release of their first seminal album Los Angeles, which I remember stealing from Music Plus the week it came out. Ugh!! Kill me now. 😆
     Alphabetland sounds incredible. To quote Billy Zoom, it sounds like X is supposed to sound like but never did. Exene Cervenka's vocals are amazing and better than ever, and John Doe's smooth crooning underneath everything Exene sings is part of what makes X the unique band that they are. They're magical together. DJ Bonebrake's drumming is tribal and splashy and machine like in it's presentation and cadence. Dude's one of the better drummers out there, never overplaying, and always complimenting what's being played. He sounds great. And as for the man, the myth, the legend known as Billy Zoom, well, fuck it, I'm just gonna say it: this might be the best thing musically he's ever done. Seriously. His guitar work attacks, it shreds, it leads the way, and sits back and compliments what's being played, whether it's in his melodic fret runs or spastic blurts of twanging noisy lead runs. Everything he's doing sounds fantastic and flawless. The man even throws in some horn work on a few songs just because he can! 😁 I've always been a fan of X, and repeated listenings to this album just have me gobsmacked at the genius level of musical artistry being displayed by Mr. Zoom on this album. The leads he plays on this album are just jaw droppingly perfect. Listen to Water And Wine to see what I'm talking about. ¡Puro rock y roll! Orale!

     The music, the melodies, the songs... oh my goodness the songs!! ❤ Opening track Alphabetland might be one of the best songs X has ever did, eliciting slight whiffs of something X had done earlier in their career, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  Matter of fact, the whole album has that aroma about it, like you've heard that riff before in another song they did or that the song reminds you of something they did earlier in their career, and re-recording early, already been released songs like Delta 88 Nightmare, I Gotta Fever (originally named Heater on early demos), and Cyrano de Berger's Back (which was recorded for the 1st Fleshtones album) doesn't help,  but the new original material showcases everything that made X the seminal band that they are. Songs like Angel On The Road, Strange Life, Goodbye Year, Goodbye, and Star Chambered stand perfectly against anything the band recorded on the first 3 albums. I know how crazy that sounds but I'm not even kidding. I like everything about this album - even that jazzy bebop improv poetry last song All The Time In The World!! hahaha I don't know what they were smoking when they recorded that one but I want some! 😎 The cover is interesting, artwork by Wayne White, a  local LA legend and bigtime fan of the band, and kudos to Rob Schnapf and Matt Schuessler and Mark Chelecki for capturing it, mixing it, and mastering it and making it sound as good as it does. Like WOW! good. Just saying. 😉 Like a sucker punch that rings your bell for a good long time, this new album from X hits you hard and unexpectedly, reminding you just how good it is to be excited about new music, about how lucky we are to feel anything at this point in our lives, and Alphabetland is full of all the feels and feelings that make a great album a classic one, and this album has 'classic' written all over it. This one is gonna be just as legendary as their earlier records. Wait and see. ​​

Released onto the world by Fat Possum Records, and available from their website by clicking here. Also available on the X Bandcamp page by clicking here. The colored vinyl versions are long gone though. 😎 Digitally available via Amazon, Apple Music, Spotify, yada yada yada

​by GE 138.

     I'm loving all this new music that's coming across my desk as of late, but it's a shame that none of it is from local sources. Oh well. This band Human Impulse, hailing from Minnesota, have just released a blistering slab of Punk Rock fury which I'm assuming is their debut release because of its self title. I could be wrong about that but I'm too lazy to look it up because it doesn't matter. First release or seventh release, this is a catchy piece of Punk Rock goodness. They're like Neurosis or Nails but not as brutal or noisy, and a bit more traditional Metal, which ain't a bad thing. Songs like Error Era, Reassessed, and New Wave highlight all three band members singing / screaming along to some pretty interesting, catchy, noisy, and inventively structured songs. It's a fresh take on a familiar musical style and I commend the band for the effort because what they've created sounds really fucking good. If I had to complain about anything about this release I'd say the drums are muddy and buried in the mix, and that this 6 song release is too damn short. If you're into some aggressive, angry, pissed off sounding hardcore Punk Rock, then check out Human Impulse and see what ya think about them. I'm thinking you might like them. 😎

Available on beautiful red vinyl from the Human Impulse Bandcamp page, which you can go to by clicking here. The album is also available digitally there as well. You can also find this release on Amazon music by clicking here. Follow the band on Instagram by clicking here.