X: Alphabetland (2020)

I look at what's going on the world around us, and have to ask, do we even deserve a great new X album?  And the answer is almost certainly no. But here it is nonetheless.

I caught them live a couple years back and was shocked at the energy and vibrancy they brought to the show; you could close your eyes and have no clue that you were hearing a band whose most primal work was released nearly 40 years earlier.  This album, on first listen, takes me to a similar place. It's rousing,...