Hey kid, come here... Do you like rock & roll?

As anyone who has younger sisters can attest, at some point in your teenage/early adult life you experience a time when you begin to actually publicly associate with each of them after years of wanting absolutely nothing to do with them. They are now welcome at your parties, hangout spots, and in some cases even date your friends. It's an awkward right of passage that happens for the best really and once you're through it, you wonder why you spent so much time trying to avoid them.

My experience was no exception. I can’t be sure, but I think it was at one of those big Christmas/New Years parties that you throw when your parents leave town and foolishly leave the house to you (because afterall, your a mature adult now right?) that I was reintroduced to John Adams by one of my sisters. I say reintroduced because I may have actually met him before, perhaps while a senior in high school (he may have been dating my sister), but I'm pretty sure I was probably a dick to him or something. John was this guy who was as immersed in punk rock music as I was with heavy metal. He looked and acted the part to a tee. It’d be safe to say punk music ran through his veins. I also recall him being a bright guy and quite articulate.

Flash forward through many years and many solar systems to two years ago…While in NYC on a visit, my friend Jackson takes me and his lovely gal to The Continental one summer night to see John’s band The X’s play to a full room packed with summer remnants of NYU undergrads. It took months for my hair to return to a relaxed state and I was actually left speechless for days after getting my ass rocked off. That night, The X’s proved to be a well rehearsed powerhouse of pure loud and proud energy. John serves as frontman/rhythm guitarist and completely dominated the stage flanked by his two gargoyles, guitarist Chris Goerke, former Fuel bassist/singer Brett Scallions, with Mike Maenza pounding the ever lovin’ life out of the drums behind them. The one thing that struck me was how comfortable they all were up on that stage. I think once you achieve that level of familiarity with the stage, the rest of the room disappears in the eyes and ears of the audience no matter how small of a place it is. John Law (as he calls himself now) and his band The X’s definitely did that for me. It was a huge bonus that they played Tedstock that fall with Mrs. Alva and I in attendance.

The X’s have just released their first self titled full length CD. This is truly a great record. I must have listened to it ten times Saturday while slogging it out in the weekend heat mowing my yard. Whoever did the recording captured The X’s sound perfectly. It’s tones are thick, ominous, and scary. It’s not over done, but it’s not sparse either. It sounds like exactly how I heard them that night at The Continental.

At this time, it’s only available from their website, but I believe that it’s only a matter of time before a big deal comes their way. Get it while it’s hot!