EXENE
It ’ s not like Exene Cervenka , and her bandmates in the Los Angeles protopunk quartet Xare just sitting around their respective houses , idly twiddling their thumbs this enforced-lockdown December . But they are coming to surreal
Goodbye ” ( complemented by a spartan animated stick-figure video conceived by Tiny Concert ’ s Keith Ross ) was all written and recorded pre-COVID-19 — five songs in 2018 and another seven in a session that wrapped on March 10 , just before the quarantine . Otherwise , this would have been a banner year for the group , which also signed a special merchandising deal with designer John Varvatos . “ But it ’ s very hectic playing shows during the holidays because , for everyone else , it ’ s just part of the seasonal fun ,” she admits . “ But we ’ re trying to have holiday fun with our friends while we ’ re working , and sometimes it isn ’ t easy . And then you come
X , 2020 grips with the fact that for this Yuletide season , at least , they will not be the hardest-working band on the road . Since , of course , no bands are on the road at all and may not be for quite some time . So their annual “ X-mas Tour ” has been summarily canceled , the singer says , just when they — and fans — needed it most . In April , X released its first new studio album in 27 years , the guns-blazing , Rob Schnapf-produced Alphabetland , one of its strongest yet . And its eerily-prescient material , like the current raucous single “ Goodbye Year ,
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home on Dec . 23 and think , ‘ You know , I really should have gotten a Christmas tree . Oh , well …’ But I do love playing those Christmas shows , and I ’ m really going to miss it this year . So it ’ s , er , a little odd .”
IE : Left to your own devices , how will you be celebrating this holiday instead ? EXENE CERVENKA : You know , I kinda like Christmas . So this year , I ’ m celebrating the solstice and all of it , the whole season . To me , it ’ s like , “ This is the dark-season time of the year , so let ’ s reflect on life .”
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8 illinoisentertainer . com january 2021