'81 ( Wild Gift ), the first albums by X were distinctive statements that perfectly captured a time, a place, and an outsider perspective. Singers and songwriters John Doe and Exene Cervenka (then a married couple), flash guitarist Billy Zoom, and drummer D.J. Bonebrake adapted the aggression and speed of Brit and East Coast punks to suit their own purposes. The likes of "Johnny Hit and Run Paulene," "The World's a Mess, It's in My Kiss" from the quartet's debut, and "White Girl" from the sophomore release captured the desperate ("get used to it!") mindset of pasty-white punks who inhabited the dark side of Hollywood. Literate, frenetic, and brutally honest, Los Angeles and Wild Gift stand as cornerstones in the history of punk, and, indeed, California r...  (less)

below pale imitation. On his triple-LP opus Thanksgiving, however, all bets are off. Obviously tour-refined, Orange has summoned an effortless crop of melodies and, moreover, an adult's surefootedness to buoy his journeyman musings." - CMJ "Orange is capable of making mopey, indie folk-pop that's downright fucking transcendent." - PORTLAND MERCURY "Adrian Orange, the person behind the music of Thanksgiving, is one young and prolific artist. I dare you to look up his discography and not be amazed - all of this work done by the age of nineteen ... he has a gift of making great three-minute rock songs that break the mold." - BIG YAWN Thanksgiving's eleventh release, Bitches Is Lord is ...  (less)