Exene Cervenka "The Excitement of Maybe"

GUEST REVIEW: JAKE AUSTEN (Bloodshot) One of the funnest nights I ever had involved an X show in the late 90s at the Double Door. That evening they were skewing kinda Country (maybe it was a tour theme, I can't recall), so about halfway through Weasel, Magas, and myself decided we'd seen enough, bailed, and just had a ridiculously fun night doing Wicker Park mischief for the next few hours. My point being that although there is nothing wrong with the rootsier stuff John, Exene, DJ and Billy often indulge in, it's not their most hypnotizin' stuff, and apparently I can take it or leave it. There is no doubt that this new album of catchy country tunes is pretty solid, but for me it's hard to get too excited about. Sure, the band's chops are there -- in L.A. you can put together an amazing C&W band, hell even Neil Hamburger managed to it -- and it's great to hear a Blaster blasting and some boss pedal steel. And when the pretty harmonies are foregone Exene's voice does have some beautiful imperfections that makes this way better (and makes the well-crafted songs way more memorable) than a Nashville pro/slicker singer would. I'm just having a hard time getting worked up, and halfway through the CD I wished Weasel hadn't moved away.