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elcome to the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blog. The aim of this blog is to introduce the readers to music that is out of print, commercially unavailable, released under a creative commons license, or with approval by the featured artist. The majority of the music posted here would be considered underground. Don't let that fool you into thinking that the music featured here might be any less enjoyable than that of the mainstream artists you hear on the radio, as this couldn't be further from the truth. Please keep in mind that the majority of the artists that appear on this blog, along with their respective record labels, are not wealthy and need your support. If you enjoy the material that you find here, please support the artists/labels by purchasing their material afterwards. If you are an artist/label that would prefer to have your material removed from this blog, simply leave me a comment, and I would be more than happy to promptly remove the offending post. In addition to running this blog, I also work on a few other projects during my spare time. You can find links to those, as well as a few other important links associated with Digital Meltd0wn in the menu bar above.

Friday, July 13, 2007

X - Los Angeles


By the late '70s, punk rock and hardcore were infiltrating the Los Angeles music scene. Such bands as Black Flag, the Germs, and, especially, X were the leaders of the pack, prompting an avalanche of copycat bands and eventually signing record contracts themselves. X's debut, Los Angeles, is considered by many to be one of punk's all-time finest recordings, and with good reason. Most punk bands used their musical inability to create their own style, but X actually consisted of some truly gifted musicians, including rockabilly guitarist Billy Zoom, bassist John Doe, and frontwoman Exene Cervenka, who, with Doe, penned poetic lyrics and perfected sweet yet biting vocal harmonies. Los Angeles is prime X, offering such all-time classics as the venomous "Your Phone's Off the Hook, but You're Not," a tale of date rape called "Johnny Hit and Run Paulene," and two of their best anthems (and enduring concert favorites), "Nausea" and the title track. While they were tagged as a punk rock act from the get-go (many felt that this eventually proved a hindrance), X are not easily categorized. Although they utilize elements of punk's frenzy and electricity, they also add country, ballads, and rockabilly to the mix.

Track List:
1. Your Phone's Off The Hook, But You're Not
2. Johnny Hit And Run Paulene
3. Soul Kitchen
4. Nausea
5. Sugarlight
6. Los Angeles
7. Sex And Dying In High Society
8. The Unheard Music
9. The World's A Mess; It's In My Kiss
10. I'm Coming Over (Demo)
11. Adult Books (Demo)
12. Delta 88 (Demo)
13. Cyrano De Berger's Back (Rehearsal)
14. Los Angeles (Dangerhouse Version)

Download: X - Los Angeles (35.69MB)

7 comments:

Mr. Suave said...

Not just one of the finest punk albums, but THE finest punk album. Not a bad track in the mix.

Mr. Suave

Jon said...

Thanks so much for this. I've heard of them but never gave them a listen before. I am glad i finally did, such a great album.


JOn

Anonymous said...

Exene's hideous "voice", screeching like an injured polecat in the night... hate-rivened smarty songs about niggers, jews and uppity fags... oh where do i sign?

Anonymous said...

Listen to "Los Angeles" again, Lamb.

The song is written in the third person and does not express their own hate, rather replays the bigotry of a young scenester who had come to LA to be "cool" in the big city, for the rich irony it represents.

"She had to get out..." is the frustration she felt when she couldn't confront a world that wasn't full of people like her.

Basically, it isn't your typical facile punk record. Try again.

Anonymous said...

Gracias, I think that Ray Manzarek (door's pianist) was their produrer.

Anonymous said...

thanks for posting this , timo

raul_dook said...

thanks
-cheers from california