Los Angeles punk legends X have announced Smoke & Fiction, which they say will be their final album. The band’s original lineup – John Doe, Exene Cervenka, DJ Bonebrake, and Billy Zoom – recorded the album with producer Rob Schnapf (Beck, Foo Fighters). It will be out August 2 via Fat Possum Records, and X will then embark on a farewell tour of North America. Listen to the first single, ‘Big Black X’, and check out the list of dates below.
“X is a great band name; also a bad idea sometimes when it gets lost in print or on the marquee,” Cervenka remarked in a statement. “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.”
‘Big Black X’ comes with an accompanying video directed by Gilbert Trejo and Shane McKenzie, who said: “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.”
Smoke & Fiction Cover Artwork:
Smoke & Fiction Tracklist:
1. Ruby Church
2. Sweet Til The Bitter End
3. The Way It Is
4. Flipside
5. Big Black X
6. Smoke & Fiction
7. Struggle
8. Winding Up the Time
9. Face in the Moon
10. Baby & All
X 2024 Tour Dates:
Jun 24 – Los Angeles, CA – The Troubadour – SOLD OUT
Jul 6 – Kansas City, MO – The Uptown
Jul 7 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room
Jul 9 – St. Louis, MO – Del Mar Hall
Jul 10 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
Jul 12 – Minneapolis, MN – The Varsity
Jul 13 – Chicago, IL – Square Roots Festival
Jul 14 – Chicago, IL – Fitzgerald’s – SOLD OUT
Jul 16 – Detroit, MI – The Masonic
Jul 17 – Kent, OH – The Kent Stage
Jul 19 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
Jul 25 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent
Jul 26 – Los Angeles, CA – The Regent
Jul 28 – Costa Mesa, CA – Pacific Amphitheatre
Jul 30 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
Aug 19 – Menlo Park, CA – The Guild Theatre
Aug 20 – Menlo Park, CA – The Guild Theatre
Aug 22 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
Aug 23 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
Aug 25 – Portland, OR – The Aladdin
Aug 28 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
Aug 30 – Denver, CO – The Summit
Sep 1 – Albuquerque, NM – The El Rey
Sep 22 – Derry, NH – Tupelo Music Hall
Sep 23 – Boston, MA – The Wilbur
Sep 25 – Albany, NY – Empire Live
Sep 26 – Rochester, NY – Water Street Music Hall
Sep 27 – Pittsburgh, PA – Jergel’s
Sep 28 – Falls Church, CA – The State Theatre
Sep 30 – Philadelphia, PA – Keswick Theater
Oct 1 – Patchogue, NY – Patchogue, Theatre
Oct 2 – Norwalk, CT – District Music Hall
Oct 4 – New York, NY – Town Hall
Oct 5 – Middletown, CT – Harbor Park
Oct 18 – Austin, TX – The Paramount
Oct 19 – San Antonio, TX – Empire Live
Oct 21 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall
Oct 22 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
Oct 24 – Memphis, TN – Minglewood Hall
Oct 25 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl
Oct 26 – Birmingham, AL – Iron City
Oct 29 – Charlotte, NC – The Neighborhood Theatre
Oct 30 – Columbia, SC – The Senate
