X (Australian band)

X is an Australian punk rock band, formed in Sydney, New South Wales in 1977 founded by Ian Rilen, Steve Lucas, Ian Krahe and Steve Cafiero.

X
Origin	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres	Punk rock
Years active	1977–present
Associated acts	Rose Tattoo, Sardine v
Members	Steve Lucas Kim Volkman Doug Falconer
Past members	Ian Rilen Steve Cafiero Peter Coutanche Ian Krahe Geoff Holmes Cath Synnerdahl Cathy Green

History

Early years

Ian Rilen formed X with Steve Lucas on guitar and vocals in the late 1970s. Ian Krahe also played guitar and was renowned for having blood on his hands from playing without a guitar pick. Steve Cafiero rounded out the original four-piece lineup on drums. The band's first lineup change occurred when guitarist Ian Krahe died, reducing the band to three members for their first album, X-Aspirations. Recorded in 5 hours at Trafalgar Studios in Sydney,[1] the album has been listed in the book 100 Best Australian Albums.[2] The band split up shortly after the album's 1980 release.

Reformation

Ian Rilen went on to form the post-punk outfit Sardine v with then-wife, Stephanie Rilen during X's first hiatus from 1980 to 1983. X reformed in the early 1980s for a tour organised by then manager Nick Chance and booking agent Gerard Schlaghecke. Drummer Steve Cafiero had always said he would not go to Melbourne and when advised of tour dates, stuck to his word and refused to go, citing family commitments and his career in real estate. Canberra-based drummer Cathy Green was a huge fan of the band and, already knowing the songs, replaced Cafiero for the Melbourne tour on a few days' notice. Not long after that, Cafiero died when injected with a dye prior to an X-ray for a back complaint, and Cathy became a permanent member of X. The band's second album, At Home With You (1985) was recorded in Melbourne at Richmond Recorders in March 1985. It was produced by Lobby Loyde and engineered by Tony Cohen. The recording was a signing with Major Records, which was run by Max Robenstone. The album stayed in Australia's top 20 Independent charts for 29 months. A third album, X And More (1989), followed and, like the previous albums, was produced by Lobby Loyde who had been in the hard rock group Rose Tattoo with Ian Rilen in 1979–1980.

Post-X

Until his death in 2006, Rilen had settled on a fairly stable line-up of his then-current project, Ian Rilen & the Love Addicts, with Cathy Green playing bass. The band issued a CD, Passion Boots & Bruises. Steve Lucas had Melbourne's White Cross as a backing band the banner of Double Cross and released two LPs, Double Cross and Bought And Sold. Lucas also fronted Bigger Than Jesus, founded the Groody Frenzy, as well as A.R.M. (with Chris Welsh and Mike Couvret), The Pubert Brown Fridge Occurrence as well Neon and Venom. Steve also released the solo album Bread and Water featuring cameos from Paul Kelly, Brett Kingman, Andrew Pendlebury and Chris Wilson.

Discography

Singles and EPs

• 1979: "I Don't Wanna Go Out"/"Waiting" 7" (X Music)
• 1984: "Mother" 7" (X Music)
• 1985: "El Salvador" one-sided 7" flexi (Phantom Records)
• 1987: "Dream Baby" 7"/12" (White Label)
• 1989: "And More"/"Getting Wet" 7" (White Label)
• 2001: I Love Rock'n'Roll CDEP (Laughing Outlaw) Lucas/Rilen/Holmes/Synnerdahl

Studio albums

• 1979: X-Aspirations (X Music YPRX1645, opnieuw uitgebracht Aztec Music 2009)
• 1985: At Home with You (Major MRLP002, opnieuw uitgebracht [Morphius Archives, 2002][3]
• 1988: And More (White Label)
• 2011: X -Spurts (Aztec Music)

Live albums

• 1997: X Live 8 July 1978 (Spiral Scratch)
• 2001: Live at the Civic 1979 (Dropkick)
• 2003: Evil Rumours (Laughing Outlaw)

Further reading

• Volkman, Kim. The Devil Won't Take Charity, 2017, Melbourne. ISBN 9780648098607

References

1. R., Andy (2 February 2009). "X-Aspirations". Mess+Noise. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
2. O'Donnell, John; Creswell, Toby; Mathieson, Craig (October 2010). 100 Best Australian Albums. Prahran, Vic: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 978-1-74066-955-9.