X

The punk legends are calling it a day but not before unleashing this final white-hot blast of fierce power-chord fun - there's a melancholy to the lyrics, a heavy heart weighing upon the music yet they still manage to inject it with the energetic resilience that's been their calling card since day dot.

Like 2020's 'Alphabetland', 'Smoke & Fiction' has the fury and fun expected from X - it’s a valedictory lap with tracks like “Big Black X” reflecting back on their journey. Being great is one thing, but staying great for a long time is another. X has been great for forty-seven years, building their legend as one of America’s most original punk bands with seven albums between 1980 and 1993. This is to be their last album