The Knitters, featuring X

X may have emerged from the trash-strewn bowels of L.A., but it always had its finger on America’s rural music traditions. In fact, this offshoot of the legendary punk band excavated those roots long before MTV Unplugged and O Brother Where Art Thou made it cool to strum acoustic instruments and act like a hick. The Knitters’ 1985 album “Poor Little Critter on the Road” not only had a great title; it also made a bunch of hipsters think twice before trashing any tune with a banjo or accordion in it. Twenty years hence, the Knitters are back with a new album and returning to the road (like most all bands from twenty years ago, it seems, including their “parent” band). If X’s recent shows are any indication, these players haven’t lost any of their fire, and, in many ways, have only gotten better.