ALBUMS: Ain’t Love Grand (1985); See How We Are (1987)
MVC Ratings: Ain’t 4.0/$$$; See 3.5/ $$$
X is their name. It’s a good one if you have lots of documents to sign.
This Los Angeles punk-ish band was made up of Excene Cervanka on vocals, Billy Zoom on guitar and saxophone, D.J. Bonebrake, and John Doe, vocals and bass.
Is it just me or does X share some rock DNA with the B-52s, Athens, Ga.’s best little dance band?
Both have a lead female singer but use a lot of vocal interplay with a male band member. And they both have songs called ‘Love Shack.’ But, while the B-52s’ Love Shack was a worldwide hit, the X same-named song never got out of the starting gate. Well guess you could say the band X did get out of the gate as their ‘Love Shack’ was published a year or more earlier.
The similarities between the two bands end though when listening to the overall catalog — X rocks a lot harder than my hometown heroes.
I will disclose, if you like X, there are two albums of theirs that I would buy ahead of these two I have reviewed here: ‘More Love in the New World,’ and ‘Wild Gift.’ Not that these are bad, the other two are terrific.