ALBUM REVIEW: With ‘Smoke & Fiction,’ X Takes a Bow

X has never dabbled in fantasy. The Los Angeles punk icons have always been firmly planted in reality, singing about the highs and lows of life. Now, in a profoundly real decision, X is calling it a career after nearly 50 years together.

Smoke & Fiction is being billed as the band’s “last hurrah,” the kick-off for the group’s farewell tour. Given the no-bullshit attitudes of singer Exene Cervenka and singer/bassist John Doe, the health of guitarist Billy Zoom, and the way X has always comported itself as a unit, there’s no reason to believe these are empty words or marketing gimmicks.

“We were never just kids, but we were pretty young / We did what we did just to get along / That’s just the way it was,” Doe and Cervenka harmonize on the driving, mid-tempo “The Way It Was.” The pair strike a tone that balances feeling wistful with the understanding that all things come to an end. It doesn’t matter whether or not you want these times to end, they do because “that’s just the way it is.”

Lead single “Big Black X” is anchored by Zoom’s trademark buzzsaw guitar riffs and D.J. Bonebrake’s four-on-the-floor beat. Cervenka handles the lead vocals, reminiscing on life back in the early days. The combination of the familiar X song structure with Cervenka’s poetry about the seedy side of late ’70s/early ’80s L.A. deliberately conjures up specific memories of the fast-paced, life-on-the-streets poetry from the group’s first album.

“Flipside,” with its Cervenka-Doe vocal interplay, feels like it could have been on any of X’s first few albums, while the Doe-led “Face in the Moon” and “Winding up the Time” feel like logical successors to the songs on Under the Big Black Sun.

But Smoke & Fiction isn’t merely a stroll down memory lane or a recitation of familiar themes. “Struggle” takes on the difficulties of relationships. It’s not a new concept, and when you hear Doe and Cervenka sing the chorus together, it feels like classic X. But if you listen closely, it’s not merely more of the same. The sonic aesthetic is there, but the lyrics and Cervenka’s verses aren’t sung from the angst and passions of youth. They come from a place of experience, of knowledge.

Knowledge is important, and knowing when things have reached a logical conclusion is difficult. No one wants to see a band diminish itself with time and, a few high-profile arena rock exceptions aside, no band wants to go out diminishing itself and its reputation.

WIth Smoke & Fiction, X shows it has that knowledge. It’s a worthy addition to the X discography, a celebration of the elements and personality that have made it one of America’s greatest and most influential rock bands.

X’s Smoke & Fiction is out Aug. 2 on Fat Possum Records.