For several years now, the seminal LA punk band X have been trotting out their hits on the occasional mortgage-paying tour without creating any new material together. But the band’s two key songwriters, Exene Cervenka and John Doe, are still very capable, as Doe proved on his superb 2000 CD Freedom Is . . . (spinART) and Cervenka makes clear at the helm of her exceptional new cowpunk outfit, Original Sinners. This group also feature the songwriting talents and slashing guitars of Sam Soto (formerly of the beloved LA band Sluts for Hire), the stylish slide-guitar playing of Jason Edge, and the Distillers’ former rhythm section, bassist Kim Chi and drummer Mat Young.

All in all, it’s the most agile and impressive unit Exene has had behind her since Billy Zoom was last a regular member of X. Moaning and sighing about deadbeat men as she has for much of her career, she sounds in pristine voice here. She’s not just copying her favorite twangy women country singers — having helped invent the cowpunk genre, Cervenka writes tunes that avoid falling into the kitschy cornball trap that has marred discs by Social Distortion and the Supersuckers. Instead, she delivers genuine songs about honest-to-goodness disreputable loafers. "Bringin’ Me Down" and "Aluminum Flavored Honey" are lovelorn numbers fueled by jealousy, loneliness, and some epic Cervenka howling. And "Woke Up This Mornin’ " is a straightforward honky-tonk-style country tune that eventually shit-kicks its way into some fine distorted guitar wankin’.