Quick internet searches revealed perhaps it was so good because it consisted of a lot of spare parts from earlier in their career and thus it was able to accurately capture the band.
Smoke and Fiction has come out to near universal acclaim. That buzz of media set me up for some disappointment. In relation to the band's classic work, the new album feels a bit generic. Pitchfork had no problem in comparing it positively to the band's first two amazing albums.
Yet, most, if not nearly all albums I will listen to reach out those heights and it is perhaps unfair to hold X to their best albums (or maybe even some of them not quite as good but still great 80s albums) when Smoke and Fiction is a good listen.
Billy Zoom's guitar bursts with energy throughout, as John and Exene exchange lines. In this way, the band does capture a lot of what made them great. And in terms of late-career reunion albums, this certainly matches up with those contenders. (A lot of those good not great later Buzzcocks albums would probably make a proper comparison).
At least I don't see it as the big “mic drop” as apparently other reviewers and fans do. It still works as a decent enough send off, an occasional future listen and in “Big Black X” a decent enough final track to include on band compilation playlists. (It seems to be the track most critics have picked up upon, a coda for a career that started with the fantastic “Los Angeles” single. Though I prefer the similarly thought out “The Way It Is”)
It's a shame the expectations hang up there for me. With Billy Zoom at age 76, I can't say I blame them for calling it while they can. Still, it's not like it's a bad album and it feels like the creative juices flowing. For example, one assumes John Doe has a few more albums in him and the song “Face in the Moon” here is the kind of songs that will make you anticipate his next release.
2024 - Fat Possum Records
