No. 334: Wild Gift

Band: X
Album: Wild Gift
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: X's album of guilt -- as described by Robert Christgau -- is deeper and more interesting than their other records. Again produced by Ray Manzarek, the album's sheen belies its punkiness, though both aspects work together to make a pretty good record.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: I'm still not totally in the X camp. It's still punk, as much as the lyrics are much better than so many punk rock bands.
Best song: "White Girl" is a cool racial song -- not a phrase uttered a lot.
Worst song: "I'm Coming Over" isn't great, but, thankfully, it's short.
Is it awesome?: It's close. My mind is changing on this band.

Because of my lack of effort in reviewing "Los Angeles," a couple of excellent commenters expressed a disappointment in my non-love for the record. Because I trust said commenters' taste, I took a little more interest in "Wild Gift" and went in with a little more optimist. And, quite frankly, they were right. "Wild Gift" is great.

---

Music critic Robert Christgau is one of the biggest supporters of "Wild Gift" in the world, and he gave the album one of the very rare A+. The opening line of his review -- "Hippies couldn't understand jealousy because they believed in universal love; punks can't understand it because they believe sex is a doomed reflex of existentially discrete monads." -- puts the record in a perspective I didn't really think about.

"Adult Books" has the feel of a dance while the frantic lyrics stream out, the love-goes-wrong "When Our Love Passed Out on the Couch" is interesting and cool and "We're Desperate" is wonderful. The aggressive guitars and upbeat drums work well with Exene's sultry-if-you-squint vocals.

Maybe it's the timing, but I do like "Wild Gift" more than I like "Los Angeles." It's a great punk rock record.

No. 286: Los Angeles

Band: X
Album: Los Angeles
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: West Coast punk rock owes a lot to X's "Los Angeles." If nothing, the band's sound was more accessible than the later hardcore that came from that scene.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: I'm both too young and too disinterested to enjoy this stuff.
Best song: The title track is pretty good and their cover of "Soul Kitchen" is pretty cool.
Worst song: "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline" isn't great.
Is it awesome?: It's distinct sound, but I can't get totally behind it.

My knowledge and passion for punk rock is basically nil, so I can't really speak to the greatness of this album. It's catchy and it's fun. I enjoyed listening to it, if only for the band's version of the Doors' "Soul Kitchen." It still has a little bit of the original's melody while keeping the punk band's speed.

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist from The Doors, produced this record and it shows. Unlike most punk records, an organ makes some serious appearances. That was probably the most striking thing for me.

It's not hardcore, which is the angle from which I always see California punk rock. There's a fair amount of hooks and catchyness, the title track being the great example. Nevertheless, it's a good one.

---

For what it's worth, I find Exene Cervenka to be attractive and would make out with her -- even at 51 -- if she asked me.