X — See How We Are

X -- See How We Are

• Artist: X
• Title: See How We Are
• Year: 1987
• Format: Vinyl 12 in.
• Rating (1-10): 7
• Owner: Tracy
• Acquired: 1987 – When I worked at Mother’s Records in Hampton, VA.
• Keeper: Yes

I need to listen to this one again. “See How We Are” was never my favorite X record, but I really wasn’t getting into it after a couple listens today. I do like the songs “4th of July” and the title-track “See How We Are”, but the rest of the album just sounds flat. And that’s despite that there are a number of high-energy fast-tempo songs. Overall it just sounds like they’re bummed out. Maybe they were.

I got to see them live, touring for this record, at the Ritz in New York. They were the opening act for Warren Zevon. To me, at the time that was a bill that didn’t make sense. The whole show was kind of a poignant downer. Guitarist Billy Zoom wasn’t there, replaced by Tony Gilkyson in concert and on the album too, and John Doe and Exene had broken up. The latter point was really driven home by Exene being visibly pregnant with someone else’s child. On top of all that, the biggest let down and surprise was that the most of the crowd was actually there to see Warren Zevon. Maybe I was the last guy to know it was the end for X.

Here’s an article about that show from the New York Times archives. Guess who gets 90% of the ink.