Something I Learned Today

Punk Rock and Other Assorted Bullshit

X-X

January 16th, 2006 | Posted by: Eric | Category: 70's Punk, 80's Punk

My theory is that the fumes from a burning Cuyahoga River affected brain chemistry of Cleveland’s youth. The result is some demented and damaged art punk along the lines of Pere Ubu, Electric Eels, Styrenes, etc. Not to be overlooked is X-X (or X blank X), who featured former Electric Eel guitarist John Morton on vocals and guitar. The backstory of the band is unknown to me. All I know is that X-X released two singles on local label Drome (famous for releasing some of the Pagans 7″s). The first was released in 1979 and is the better of the two and includes KBD #9 hit “You’re Full of Shit” (originally an Electric Eels track). The second 7″ was circa 1980 and includes another Eels outcast “No Nonsense”. All are noisy, skronky lo-fi treasures.

First 7″
X-X - A.mp3
X-X - You’re Full of Shit.mp3

Second 7″
X-X - No Nonsense.mp3
X-X - Approaching The Minimal With Spray Guns.mp3

Notes:
>pics from Henry Weld’s indispensible Discography of American Punk
> Battle of the Electric Eel’s websites: Brian McMahon vs John Morton

7 Comments so far

  1. Al January 17th, 2006 6:13 pm

    hell yeah… “You’re Full Of Shit” is a classic. I got that 7″ in the late 80s… some copies were uncovered and I ordered them at the record store where I worked, snagging one for myself.

  2. jb January 19th, 2006 12:06 am

    Thanks for posting this. I love that old Cleveland stuff.

  3. Revok January 20th, 2006 7:59 pm

    Great stuff. Cheers man!

  4. Reasonably Horrible Noise January 22nd, 2006 1:23 am

    X-X did “You’re Full Of Shit” so well (and “No Nonsense” is pretty decent) it’s too bad they didn’t do more Pagan-like versions of Electric Eels songs. A darn shame.

  5. booblikon January 25th, 2006 8:59 am

    for anyone interested further, more can be found at clepunk.com with several photos of each of the band members. thanks for recognizing these overlooked masterpieces.

  6. Matt January 25th, 2006 9:02 pm

    Don’t forget about Spike N’ Vain, one of the best bands from Cleveland

  7. Brandon January 1st, 2007 5:00 pm

    I like the Electric Eels version of “You’re Full of Shit” a little more, and have only heard the version of “No Nonsense” on the Those Were Different Times comp., which is live and suffers because of it. Overall, this is great. Cleveland must be the center of the universe or something. Ever see 9 Shocks’ live show? Now THAT’S terrorism.

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