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BLACK RANDY. THE BAGS. HOWARD WERTH. RANDOMS. These were the lesser known (and now to most people, hopelessly obscure punk rock footnotes) labelmates to X when they first poked their spiky heads out from the nascent LA punk scene via the excellent “Adult Books” seven inch on the legendary Dangerhouse label. Of course, the label wouldn’t have been legendary without the additional contributions from such vital bands like THE WEIRDOS, THE DILS and THE AVENGERS, but X was clearly the one whose reach would extend the furthest and whose impact was the largest. Fusing the solid backbeat of DJ BONEBRAKE and the wired rockabilly riffage of BILLY ZOOM, X was most closely identified by the gloriously ragged, off-kilter harmonies of EXENE CERVENKA and JOHN DOE. The backing music could be a combination of kazoo and xylophone and I’d still buy the records for that honey and vinegar mixture.
Though reunion shows are sprouting up with more frequency than herpes sores on Courtney Love, this is not a one-off money grabber from a formerly functional unit; I saw X rip it up in late ‘04, and also caught THE KNITTERS (basically an acoustic X with DAVE ALVIN subbing for Billy, and playing mostly traditional songs) about 18 months ago. Judging from the ferocity and accuracy of those two shows, another night spent with one of America’s best bands (of any genre) was a no-brainer, and this did not disappoint. The basic premise of these tours is that, much like the first go-round of the Barlow-joined Dinosaur, material on the set list would be kept to the era where Zoom played, up through More Fun In The New World (though “My Goodness” from Ain’t Love Grand was surreptitiously slipped into the set, with Doe telling us it’s a recent addition). If those first four lps aren’t pretty much flawless, then I guess you’d also agree that CALVIN MURPHY wasn’t much of a free throw shooter.
If you are at all familiar with X, you know what to expect – tightly coiled songs which dance on a newly invented razor’s edge of punk and roots music, with Bonebrake doing his damnedest to obliterate the drum set while Billy blisters out massive riffs and stares out across the crowd, grinning like a demented union of DENNIS HOPPER and CHRISTOPHER WALKEN, threatening/welcoming all around him with his silver-flecked Gretsch. John Doe is the yeoman of the band, a tireless worker who pulls everything together with the sturdy bottom end, choogling like MIKE WATT on “Beyond and Back.” Exene and John’s harmonies wrap around each other like the Rod of Asclepius so tightly it’s hard to figure out where the staff ends and the snake begins; “In This House That I Call Home,” Hungry Wolf,” (with Bonebrake’s thunderous floor toms shaking the stage) and “Johnny Hit and Run Paulene” demonstrated these sinuous vocal mannerisms to the highest degree. I can’t think of another band who does this so well with two vocalists. The encore shook loose a couple of deeper cuts from the 3rd and 4th records, with the murderous riff of “Devil Doll” giving way to a spectacular Zoom solo, throwing surf licks and working the Bigsby whammy hard. “Blue Spark” had the dive-bombing bass riff of Doe punctuating the martial drum beat of DJ. The sold-out house gave up enough noise to coax another encore, and John and Exene came out alone for a beautiful acoustic turn on “See How We Are,” before Billy and DJ helped send off the crowd with a couple off their debut LP, “Sugarlight” and the cover of “Soul Kitchen.” The band sounded fantastic, and the show was easily as good as two I caught in the 80s.
THE DETROIT COBRAS offered up a rollicking mix of soul-tinged garage rock, with a hell of a lot more swing than I expecting, based on their name. Instead of a snarling squawk-fest a la 10th generation STOOGES riff re-treads, the three gals and two guys was more Stax than Estrus. Lead singer RACHEL NAGY was a great front woman, belting out lines when she needed to, and holding back and playing coy when the song called for that approach. This particular tour booking was a great example of two well-matched bands playing to different strengths.
more photos of each band can be found at www.tinnitus-photography.com
