X: See How We Are : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Of all the Los Angeles punk bands of the late Seventies, X is the only one that has lasted – and expanded. On See How We Are, the sturdy band's sixth album, the group's core (singer-songwriter Exene Cervenka, singer-songwriter-bassist John Doe and drummer D.J. Bonebrake) adjusts to the challenge of guitarist Billy Zoom's departure by tightening up, discarding the gratuitous poetics of some of its lyrics and stating its case as succinctly as it has since its 1982 signpost, Wild Gift. Guitarists Tony Gilkyson and (since departed) Dave Alvin aren't content simply to stick warmed-over Zoom riffs into the tunes; they add distinctive touches without trying to turn the band into their own.

They couldn't do that even if they wanted to, because Cervenka and Doe's new songs are among the sharpest they've ever recorded. On the bicoastal romance "You," Cervenka plays off lush harmonies to sketch in the details of her lover's lament; the near-autobiographical "Surprise Surprise" charges through the incongruities of a rocker's life. The stunning, ambitious title track is a dour state-of-the-union message, and the album's first track, "I'm Lost," is as energetic as a song about loneliness can be.

Dave Alvin's sole songwriting contribution before he left the band was the powerful "4th of July," which matches the most uplifting arrangement the group has ever recorded with the moving tale of a decomposed relationship. The discord between Doe and Cervenka's soaring vocals and Alvin's dread-packed lyrics sparks fires.

See How We Are probably won't break X commercially, even if it is the apotheosis of marketable music with bite, because the band is still too heavily identified with the rock-radio no-no – punk rock. That's dreadful. Almost eight years after recording its first album, X has grown from America's most explosive punk-rock band to one of mainstream rock's worthy off-kilter exponents. The band sounds as if it needed to play what it does; and we need to hear it.

JIMMY GUTERMAN

(Posted: Oct 8, 1987)

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Track List

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I'm Lost
You
4th Of July
In The Time It Takes
Anyone Can Fill Your Shoes
See How We Are
Left & Right
When It Rains...
Holiday Story
Surprise Surprise
Cyrano De Berger's Back
Holiday Story - (remix, previously unreleased, demo version) (track not available in Rhapsody)
I'm Lost - (remix, previously unreleased, demo version) (track not available in Rhapsody)
Highway 61 Revisited - (rough mix, previously unreleased, outtake) (track not available in Rhapsody)
In The Time It Takes - (remix, previously unreleased, demo version) (track not available in Rhapsody)
See How We Are - (remix, previously unreleased, demo version) (track not available in Rhapsody)
(untitled) - (hidden track) (track not available in Rhapsody)