Influential LA punk band X announced final album, tour

Just four years after putting out the acclaimed album Alphabetland, legendary punk band X has revealed details for its ninth and final studio full length Smoke & Fiction. Produced by Rob Schnapf (Beck, Foo Fighters) and set to be released August 2 on Fat Possum Records, it coincides with a farewell tour.

First single “Big Black X,” streaming now, reflects on the early history of X, life in Hollywood, and the events unfolding in the world during those formative years. As co-vocalist Exene reflects on the band's choice of their moniker, “X is a great band name; also a bad idea sometimes when it gets lost in print or on the marquee. Gotta have a sense of humor. We all did in the early days. Los Angeles was a carnival of weirdness back then, with left over traces of silent movie stars, long haired hippies, bikers, and brand new self-defined punks doing anything we wanted. When we started touring the country we found like-minded people everywhere, and somehow they all found us. Even if the X was lost on the old marquee.”

A video for “Big Black X” was also released. Directed by Gilbert Trejo and Shane McKenzie the duo described it as, “Inspired by 80s video art and the great punk documentaries of the time / shot on VHS, edited tape to tape, using Polaroids + 35mm photos, smashed together with analog video mixers and CRT televisions - it’s a tornado of the past and present - Ed Colver’s photos were a blast to video mix and they are the glue holding it all together.”

As they bid farewell, X reminds us that true greatness lies not only in individual talent but in the unwavering bond of a band united by a shared love for their craft.

Exene once said, "I want to create something that’s such a perfect expression of what I felt that whoever comes across it will feel the same emotion, get it completely, and say 'yeah, me too.'" 

Track Listing:

Ruby Church
Sweet Til The Bitter End
The Way It Is
Flipside
Big Black X
Smoke & Fiction
Struggle
Winding Up the Time
Face in the Moon
Baby & All

X ~ The End is Near ~ Smoke & Fiction Tour:

7/6 - Kansas City, MO - The Uptown
7/7 - Omaha, NE - The Waiting Room
7/9 - St. Louis, MO - Del Mar Hall
7/10 - Milwaukee, WI - Turner Hall
7/12 - Minneapolis, MN - The Varsity
7/13 - Chicago, IL - Square Roots Festival
7/14 - Chicago, IL - Fitzgerald’s - SOLD OUT
7/16 - Detroit, MI - The Masonic
7/17 - Kent, OH - The Kent Stage
7/19 - Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
7/25 - Los Angeles, CA - The Regent
7/26 - Los Angeles, CA - The Regent
7/28 - Costa Mesa, CA - Pacific Amphitheatre
7/30 - Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up
8/19 - Menlo Park, CA - The Guild Theatre
8/20 - Menlo Park, CA - The Guild Theatre
8/22 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
8/23 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
8/25 - Portland, OR - The Aladdin
8/28 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
8/30 - Denver, CO - The Summit
9/01 - Albuquerque, NM - The El Rey
9/22 - Derry, NH - Tupelo Music Hall
9/23 - Boston, MA - The Wilbur
9/25 - Albany, NY - Empire Live
9/26 - Rochester, NY - Water Street Music Hall
9/28 - Falls Church, CA - The State Theatre
10/1 - Patchogue, NY - Patchogue, Theatre
10/2 - Philadelphia, PA - Keswick Theater
10/3 - New York, NY - Town Hall
10/5 - Middletown, CT - Harbor Park
10/18 - Austin, TX - The Paramount
10/19 - San Antonio, TX - Empire Live
10/21 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall
10/22 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater
10/24 - Memphis, TN - Minglewood Hall
10/25 - Nashville, TN - Brooklyn Bowl
10/26 - Birmingham, AL - Iron City
10/27 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10/29 - Charlotte, NC - The Neighborhood Theatre
10/30 - Columbia, SC - The Senate

More dates TBA

Photo by Gilbert Trejo