X aren’t interested in reliving old memories on ‘Smoke & Fiction’

Earlier this year, X, the venerable, trailblazing punk band from Los Angeles, announced their final studio album and final tour.

If X is indeed calling it a day in the studio, then they’re giving us one last chance to see them in action, the way you might have seen them back in 1980 in LA.

Today, John Doe, Exene Cervenka, D.J. Bonebrake and Billy Zoom join us to play songs from their latest album, Smoke & Fiction. Even though it’s been over 40 years since their debut, the punk icons still sound as urgent as ever. Plus, Doe and Cervenka talk about X’s present and past, including their 1986 documentary, X: The Unheard Music.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.