#twisted bride

“People turn their heads / She scares little kids / Eyes narrow; jaw is set / She'll fix you with a stare / She keeps her body hidden / Let's her eyes make her bid / I'd wrap her up in a bullet / And shoot her ‘round the world …”

/ John Doe’s lyrics to the X song “Devil Doll” from More Fun in the New World (1983) album, inspired by Exene Cervenka /

“Exene’s personality mixes the bored brattiness of a gum-snapping high school smart ass with a poet’s funereal profundity. Early on she did a definitive rock version of Morticia Addams, with black hair and lipstick and eye shadow, sometimes painted all around her eyes like a raccoon. She was queen of the Visigoths, something imagined by Anne Rice.”

/ From a profile of Los Angeles punk band X by John Homans in Details magazine, August 1993 /

“Centre stage was Exene. You’ve heard the phrase “I’m every woman”? Exene could say it and be telling the truth. Snaky-haired Medusa, Little Match Girl, baddest chick at school, homeless woman on the corner cursing to herself, vamp, wizened crone, wistful runaway – Exene changed from one to the next in an instant. She had the narrow hips of a child, the full bosom of a femme fatale and a fabulous fashion sense: scuffed up granny shoes, the exaggerated makeup of a silent film star, thrift store party dresses, bracelets and tattoos – she was a feast for the eye. Ultimately, though, Exene’s beauty was rooted in her ability to be herself without a trace of apology or shame. Her wicked sense of humour, her need, her sorrow, her lust, her regret, her tenderness – she got out there and flaunted it all, and that’s what made her such a spectacular performer.” 

/ From Kristine McKenna’s liner notes to the reissue of the 1980 X album Los Angeles /