Ever seen The Decline of Western Civilisation? Most likely not, as Penelope Spheeris' 1980 documentary about the nascent LA punk scene has not been easily available to all and sundry since it hit a few select screens back in those grisly early days of gobbing and slam-dancing (the Americans being, as ever, a little late to this).Anyways, the film focused on such unpleasant coves as The Germs, Circle Jerks, an embryonic Black Flag and easily the finest band on the scene, X.
Like all the greatest punk bands, the members of X had cool made-up or altered names like John Doe, Exene Cervenka and Billy Zoom; they could also actually play a bit, with proper songs and at least two classic albums in their debut Los Angeles and its follow-up Wild Gift.
This song, "Nausea", is from that aforementioned debut, and it's a live performance of the song that fittingly opens Spheeris' documentary.
"Nausea" has a Black Sabbath-like guitar riff that stops and starts in all the right places and a sneering punk chorus featuring the band's trademark almost vocal harmonising between Cervenka and Doe alongside a thrilling march-to-the-guillotine bit of tub pounding from drummer DJ Bonebreak. It also has some organ fills from The Doors' Ray Manzarek, whom was the band's first, and for some time, regular producer.
It sounds raw, threatening, exciting and sexy as hell.
X - "Nausea" mp3
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