X

In a musical climate where it can often feel as if it’s a race to the bottom in terms of who can come up with the silliest band name, it’s refreshing to cast your mind back to a time where the likes of X were happy to go minimalist on that front, and let their music do the talking for them. Forming in 1977 - the same year that punk was born - you can argue that the LA group are among the forefathers of the genre, with their first two albums ranked amongst the greatest 500 ever by Rolling Stone back in 2003. Their heady reputation is down in no small part to their live shows, which continue to this day; there’s little in the way of rock and roll fireworks t the light show or the stage set, but they don’t really need it when they have a stage presence as commanding as that exuded by frontwoman Exene Cervenka. Her health problems in recent years have forced less touring, but both her voice and her sheer aura remain as potent as ever when they do play; this is a band sure to go down as icons of their genre in years to come.