X – “True Love, Pt. 3” & “Strange Life” (Feat. Robby Krieger)

Lauren Dunn

X – “True Love, Pt. 3” & “Strange Life” (Feat. Robby Krieger)

Lauren Dunn

Last year, in a true out-of-nowhere surprise, Los Angeles punk legends X returned with their new album Alphabetland. This was X’s first album since 1993’s Hey, Zeus!, and it was the first one from the band’s full original lineup since 1985’s Ain’t Love Grand. More importantly, it was good! Alphabetland wasn’t going to threaten Los Angeles or Wild Gift on anyone’s list of the best X albums, but the band was still able to summon the fiery underdog chemistry of their early days, and the contrast between John Doe and Exene Cervenka’s voices still sounded really cool. Today, the band has just dropped two new versions of a couple of their songs.

The first of X’s new tracks is called “True Love, Pt. 3,” and it’s a reimagining of the scratchy funk-adjacent sneer “True Love,” from More Fun In The New World. (“True Love, Pt. 2” also appeared on that album.) “True Love, Pt. 3” reworks “True Love” as countrified rockabilly, and it’s got a nice little shuffle to it.

The fierce, snorting rocker “Strange Life” was on Alphabetland, but now X have shared a new version of the song. This time around, “Strange Life” features the former Doors member Robby Krieger on slide guitar. X have an old connection to the Doors; keyboardist Ray Manzarek produced their first four albums, and Krieger also played on the Alphabetland track “All The Time In The World.” Check out the two new versions below.

The so-called Xtras two-pack is out now on Fat Possum.

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