Beautifully re-issued by Porterhouse, this album is a god damn classic. Not without its duds, but a classic nonetheless. X has a pretty extensive catalog, some of it great, some of it of questionable quality. In my eyes, this is one of those albums that’s a little of both worlds. When it’s good, it’s unfathomable. Who were these people? What universe did they live in? What bus line takes me there? Beautiful, tragic, truly poetic, and full of character. Not timeless, but close, and definitely not trapped by the tropes of 1982. That’s when it’s good, when it’s bad, it’s pretty pathetic, and they really are wearing way too much make up. But it’s easy to take cheap shots at X, so call off your dogs and pick up this record if you haven’t already, because Bonebrake may be playing the marimba, but it’s still punk as fuck.
–Daryl Gussin (Porterhouse)