There are few iconic bands as resilient as the raucous X, the L.A. legends who unfortunately are often not given their true due for the role they played in defining the punk sound for the U.S.

Goodbye Year, Goodbye is the band’s audacious anthem to the longest year in recent memory, a musical middle finger to 2020 and the protests, pandemonium, and problematic pandemic that made it the year from hell. The song is a blast from the past with a nod to the now – a perfectly punk answer to a simply unforgettable year.

I had the good fortune of catching X in concert back in 1982 when the band had just signed with major label Elektra and released Under the Big Black Sun, which mixed bits of Americana into their pioneering punk oeuvre. Goodbye Year, Goodbye presents X exactly as I remember the band – raw, rebellious, and really fun.

It is comforting to know that all four original members – vocalist Exene Cervenka, vocalist-bassist John Doe, guitarist Billy Zoom, and drummer D.J. Bonebrake – can still rock with the best. Alphabetland, the band’s eighth album but first in 27 years, shows X remains a vital force. In saying good riddance to a godforsaken year, thank goodness some things that have not changed.