Usually punks are angry: these punks are frustrated: full of pain and regret and love, adding a certain timelessness to its standard dose of punk immediacy.
Usually punk is fast: this simmers more than it flares, sounding patient and accordingly more akin to post-punk than punk-proper.
This is punk in the Clash vein, with melodic flourishes and a legitimate interest in being tuneful instead of just abrasive.
In short, this is a punk album, but a particular kind of punk album, and probably not the one you're expecting from a band called, simply, X.
The real problem is the dissonant sound of the actual songs, with the vocals reedy, detuned and way up in the mix. Both singers are unlistenable, sounding thin and reedy when the songs demand something a bit more surefooted. The actual music itself isn't overly imaginative, with some fun basslines and a Clash-worthy kaleidoscope of guitar sounds, but lost in the mix under Doe and Exene's keening. For me, it's a deal-breaker 2/5
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