Exene Cervenka's name's invariably and inexorably linked with the legends of early Los Angeles punk: As singer for the fabled punk act X, she took punk farther out of the seamy underground than nearly every other of her contemporaries. Yeah, she's a punk.

She's a lot more than a punk, though, and that's been one of the most narrow-minded views of X's legacy. Not only did the band ramp up the punk rock, it channeled rockabilly, soul and, thanks in no small part to Cervenka's work ethic, a poetic streak that snuck a little bit of art class in through X's back door, and as X's folk-band alter-ego, The Knitters, she was an avid fan of Americana. It's all those non-punk attributes that come to play in Cervenka's first solo album for Bloodshot, particularly the poetry and the folk.

Somewhere Gone is the roots album fans have been waiting for from Cervenka for ages. Her first effort as a solo artist since 1996's Surface to Air Serpents (Thirsty Ear), Somewhere Gone, is hand-crafted Americana that blends worn-out Appalachian folk with the twang of Golden-era country for a solidly traditional album from Cervenka. That only makes the humanity at the heart of her songwriting all the more naked, and she's up to the challenge. Backing away from the confrontational, socially charged lyrics of her work with Original Sinners to delve into the uglier parts of the human spirit. "Honest Mistake" is a struggle with soured love we'd expect from a Ain't Love Grand?-era X, though Cervenka's less embittered than mournful these days. "Where Do We Go From Here?" and "Let Go and Be Sweet" plumb the same matters of the heart, and do it in a way that lets Cervenka back of the howl of her last few punk platters for a soulful delivery. "The Willow Tree" turns to a standard that was once in the Carter Family's repertoire, but Cervenka's reading breathes fresh life into the ages-old tune.

Somewhere Gone doesn't do much to dress up the songs. Cervenka opts for barebones and raw acoustic instrumentation that lends the album its traditional feel. It's the sort of folk-country arrangements that draws a line straight from the Carters to Neko Case -- and hints at The Knitters -- to help remind listeners that Cervenka, punk icon that she is, has always had a lot more talent than that title usually implies.