X: JUST FOLKS

X might need a personnel director to monitor employee turnover in its guitar department, but the quartet certainly doesn’t need any help with creative affairs. After weathering turbulence on the personal front and some faltering on the artistic side, the Los Angeles band is not only back on track but roaring forward, judging by its fine new “See How We Are” LP and its focused fury Saturday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.

One of the main differences of the “new” X is that it no longer resists its longstanding urge to play folk music--albeit the most blistering folk around. X has long championed folk through various means, most notably its offshoot band the Knitters, but has tended to keep its folk fondness separate from the X attack.

No more, which partly accounts for the triumph of “See How We Are,” a sterling collection that inches closer to the mainstream without pandering or slumming. It was probably no coincidence that “See” songs were disproportionately represented Saturday. And it made perfect sense that John Doe dedicated the exquisite title track to the late folk singer Phil Ochs.

Preceding X, Social Distortion demonstrated that it too has re-thought its musical direction and incorporated more traditional elements in a way that bodes well for its forthcoming album.