Pioneer punk rock band X plays Petaluma’s Mystic Theatre

John Doe and ‘70s L.A. punk rock band X is bringing its original line-up to the Mystic Theatre.|

It’s hard to imagine another band that could capture the searing poetry, driving beat and unexpected harmonies that turned X into a lasting symbol of the aggressively rebellious punk movement as it took root in Los Angeles during the latter half of the 1970s.

Luckily, no substitutions are needed. X and its original lineup - bassist/vocalist John Doe, singer Exene Cervenka, guitarist Billy Zoom and drummer DJ Bonebrake - are still playing their own music and will be stopping in Petaluma on Monday night as they finish up a short cross-country tour.

Close to 40 years after its debut album, “Los Angeles,” brought X and its strange alchemy to the attention of music lovers everywhere, Doe says he and his bandmates have the same chemistry they always did, playing 30 to 100 shows a year sometimes to multiple generations of fans.

“We’re kind of the only punk rock band standing,” said Doe, 63, in a recent conversation. “So that’s cool.”

The band has named its current run the “Re-ZOOMED” tour, in honor of Zoom’s return to the stage after a battle with cancer that kept him from traveling with the others last year.

The shows have evolved since the members of X first gelled amid the early, unorthodox days of do-it-yourself rock that let anyone with a viewpoint form a band. Offers to play performing art centers - with actual seats - and music festivals like San Francisco’s annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass have shifted the band away from straight-out punk shows into more of a concert format. A fifth member, musician Craig Packham, is picking up a variety of instruments to help fill out reimagined songs and deep cuts, some of which were too elaborately produced in the studio to play live during earlier shows.

Doe, who has recorded several solo records in addition to X touring and occasional acting gigs, also has co-written a book called “Under the Big Black Sun: A Personal History of L.A. Punk” (Da Capo Press, $27) that was released in April. In addition to Doe’s own recollections of the band’s early life, the book features chapters written by musician contributors that include Cervenka.

Last week, Doe, now a Northern California resident, talked by phone about nearly four decades of performing with X, his recent history with the West Coast punk scene, near-fame, gratitude and his admiration for Cervenka, his co-writer and one-time wife.

Excerpts follow.

On punk and spontaneity: I think the reason punk rock went from New York to London to L.A. to San Francisco in such a short period - maybe a year and a half - was because it was time. Where rock and roll music had gone was kind of off base. It had gone wrong. That’s why everyone gravitated toward this new sound.

But I think the reason the ground was so fertile was because there was a lack of self-consciousness. I think people are awfully self-conscious today, and people were just doing things like, ‘I want to do something! What do you want to do? Let’s go do something,’ in its simplest form, and see what happens.

On the legacy of West Coast punk: I think L.A.’s version of punk rock had a lot more sense of humor and a bit more wildness than London and New York. They seemed more grown-up and adult. The West Coast was more like anything can happen. You know, the horizon is 150 miles away in California, and the horizon is like the next building in New York. You can’t see very far, so you’re kind of closed down.

On his and Cervenka’s unusual vocal harmonies: I was looking for something that wasn’t traditional, and Exene hadn’t been in a band where she was taught to sing traditional type harmonies, so it was a good combination. Sometimes Exene will sing a second or a fourth. Usually, it’s like thirds or fifths. I know some musical theory, but I couldn’t exactly break it down. I think that’s one of the reasons we’ve never had a “hit song,” and I don’t mind that. Maybe that’s why we still have some credibility, ‘cause we didn’t have a really stupid haircut and one really popular song. (Laughing.) Maybe that’s the key to longevity.

On being in a punk band: When we were selling the most records or had the most press, we would say, “Well, we’re a punk rock band.” And in ’84, people would say, “Ew, punk rock? Isn’t that like throwing up on people and piercing your cheek with a safety pin?” And now you say you’re in a punk rock band, and they go, “Oh! Huh!” You know, partly because of Green Day and the fact that punk rock is a little more accepted.

On the quintessential X song: I have a hard time with lists and the ultimates of things. I think “Los Angeles” is a signature song for a lot of reasons, and I’m proud of the song itself and of the subjects that it brings up, which is racism and that kind of element. It breaks a lot of rules but succeeds in its own way. That is probably our most well-known song, and there’s a reason for it.

On Cervenka: Especially when it’s a young woman looking at Exene, thinking, “Wow, she’s doing her own thing,” it makes my heart full, because I think Exene is a great role model. She tells the truth. She doesn’t sugarcoat it. She communicates on the most basic and primal level.

On longevity: I think at this point we’re all pretty grateful to just be able to bring it, as the kids like to say. We’re really grateful and can have some objectivity, and it’s like, “You know what? We’ve done a lot, and we’ve survived a lot, and a lot of people haven’t.” And this is our reward for surviving and being part of that.

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