Line #47 Music/XUSBand


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/x_the_band.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Left to right: Billy Zoom, DJ Bonebrake, Exene Cervenka, and John Doe]]
3
4	->''"I play too hard when I ought to go to sleep\
5	Well they pick on me 'cause I really got the beat\
6	Some people give me the creeps\
7	Every other week I need a new address\
8	Landlord, landlord, landlord cleaning up the mess\
9	Our whole fucking life is a wreck\
10	We're desperate, get used to it..."''
11	-->--"We're Desperate", the BSide of the band's first single (later re-recorded for ''Wild Gift'')
12
13	X is a popular PunkRock band from UsefulNotes/LosAngeles which formed in 1977. The band consists of singer Exene Cervenka, singer-guitarist John Doe, bassist Billy Zoom and drummer D.J. Bonebrake. Zoom left the band in 1986 and returned in 1998.
14
15	Their first two albums, ''Los Angeles'' and ''Wild Gift'', are consistently ranked among the greatest punk albums. They also played an important role in punk rock documentary film ''Film/TheDeclineOfWesternCivilization''. The band went on to be progenitors of the AlternativeCountry genre with their later albums, which mixed their punk roots with country and rockabilly elements. Despite their influence, the band has only had one major hit, with 1985's "Burning House of Love". The band went on hiatus in 1989, but regrouped in 1993 and have reformed sporadically for tours and low-key recording projects ever since.
16
17	Unrelated to the Australian band X, the Japanese band X (now known as Music/XJapan), the late rapper Music/XXXTentacion (commonly referred to as X), civil rights activist UsefulNotes/MalcolmX (also commonly referred to as X), [[VideoGame/{{X}} the video game series]], the [[Website/TwitterX social network formerly known as Twitter]], or the Creator/{{CLAMP}} manga and adaptations known in the States as ''Manga/{{X 1999}}''.
18
19	!!X's studio discography:
20	* ''Los Angeles'' (1980)
21	* ''Wild Gift'' (1981)
22	* ''Under the Big Black Sun'' (1982)
23	* ''More Fun in the New World'' (1983)
24	* ''Ain't Love Grand'' (1985)
25	* ''See How We Are'' (1987)
26	* ''Hey Zeus!'' (1993)
27	* ''ALPHABETLAND'' (2020)
28
29	!!X's live discography:
30	* ''Live at the Whisky A Go-Go on the Fabulous Sunset Strip'' (1988)
31	* ''Unclogged'' (1995)
32	* ''Live in Los Angeles'' (2005)
33
34	!!Tropes that apply to X:
35	* CanonDiscontinuity: The albums recorded following Billy Zoom's 1985 departure are largely ignored in their live shows nowadays. Exception: "Burning House of Love" from ''Ain't Love Grand.'' Even [[https://xtheband.bandcamp.com/music their Bandcamp page]] just lists their first four albums and their 2020 album ''ALPHABETLAND''--simply skipping their late 80s and 90s output.
36	* CoverVersion: "Soul Kitchen" and "The Crystal Ship" (both Music/TheDoors), "Wild Thing" (The Troggs), "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" (a Tin Pan Alley song the band got from Music/LeadBelly), "Breathless" (Music/JerryLeeLewis), "Positively 4th Street" (Music/BobDylan), "Shoot Out The Lights" ([[Music/RichardThompson Richard and Linda Thompson]]), "All or Nothing" (Music/TheSmallFaces).
37	* DeliberateValuesDissonance: "Los Angeles" has the unnamed lead character want to leave Los Angeles, and one reason is she hates "Every nigger and Jew/Every Mexican that gave her a lotta shit/Every homosexual and the idle rich". The context is that she is having a midlife crisis ("her toys wore out and her boys have too"), and is [[NeverMyFault blaming others for her own problems]], which has led her to believe she can escape them by moving to a rural area. This is TruthInTelevision and refers to something known as White Flight. The use of the epithets succeeded in attracting controversy for the song, though makes more sense in the context that a lot of their songs were based on overheard conversations, as opposed to being the group's opinion.
38	* FoundingDay: "Fourth of July" takes place on the titular holiday.
39	* GriefSong: Exene's sister Mirielle (aka Mary) was killed in a 1980 car accident while on her way to see the band, a tragedy that affected her so deeply that she wasn't able to write about it until the band's third album, ''Under the Big Black Sun''. Three songs (the TitleTrack, "Riding With Mary" and "Come Back to Me") refer to the incident, and the band's decision to cover "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" was also influenced by Exene's mournful state of mind.
40	* HardcorePunk: They were part of the Los Angeles hardcore scene in the late 70s and early 80s.
41	* HugeGuyTinyGirl: John and Exene.
42	* LeadBassist: John Doe is the band's founder, bassist, co-songwriter, and the male half of its VocalTagTeam. He's also had notable TV and movie roles, including a recurring stint on ''Series/{{Roswell}}''.
43	* LongRunnerLineUp: Type 2. The original and classic lineup lasted from 1977 to 1986, when Zoom left. He returned to the band in 1998 and has remained with them ever since.
44	* NWordPrivileges: Averted in "Los Angeles".
45	* OneLetterName
46	* ParodyAssistance: Ramonetures are a band who cover PunkRock InTheStyleOf instrumental SurfRock. When they tackled the X catalog for the album ''Johnny Walk Don't Run Paulene'', they had the assistance of Billy and DJ replicating their original guitar and drum parts.
47	* PunkRock
48	* RapeAsDrama: "Johnny Hit and Run Paulene".
49	* RevisitingTheRoots: ''ALPHABETLAND'' sees the band drop the AlternativeCountry of the last three studio albums and go back to the PunkRock of their early work. It even features new recordings of two ''Los Angeles''-era demos ("Delta 88 Nightmare" and "Cyrano de Berger's Back").
50	* VocalTagTeam: John and Exene.
51	* WorkingWithTheEx: John and Exene, post-divorce. These days, they're AmicableExes.

Context Music / XUSBand