X
I Love Rock 'n' Roll - EP
Laughing Outlaw Records

Get your personal protective gear sorted - come to think of it, don't bother. Nothing will prepare you for the brutal onslaught of this explosive five-tracker from these veteran Oz rock punksters!

Nothing slows or mellows these veterans in their approach to the rock - amazing really, seeing as they've now entered their twenty-fifth year. They have a new-ish drummer in hard-hitting Cath Synnerdahl and have increasingly engaged the services of long-term guitarist Geoff Holmes, who also helped out in engineering the EP.

"Ooh Baby" is sleaze with a smile, while "Where Did I Go Wrong?" contains the most fantastic rolling riff and piercing scream that mountains of this week's younger 'garage' bands would kill for. "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" kicks off with a screaming guitar sounding like an emergency alarm - apt notice for the sonic punishment they've captured on this one.

There's no doubt their debut album "X-aspirations" was an absolute classic of low snarls, rumbles and snorts of derision at anything resembling authority. What they've done with this EP is utilise studio technology to make the rumble jump out the speakers without sacrificing any of their raw, stripped back glory. It's the closest thing I've heard to the blistering live X experience.

X are a rumoured inclusion on this year's Livid Festival bill in Australia - they also had plans to tour the US last year but those plans unfortunately didn't come to fruition. Damn shame, as it would be the best time for folks to catch one of the true masters of garage punk rock still doing the rounds with zero pretension and a truckload of energy and conviction. A double live album will soon be released... their old old fans probably can't believe their luck. These guys wrote the bible on keeping it real.

Copyright © 2003 Brian Stradbrook