Album of the week
Iggy Pop – Every Loser
Ok, let’s jump straight in with the lyrics on opener ‘Frenzy’ – they’re ridiculous. But it sort of works. Iggy’s a wild-man rock legend, who has mellowed out over the years, becoming a bit of a wise elder-statesmen. But when you think he’s growing old gracefully, he throws in a curveball. At 75, he can’t match the intensity of his early days but he can still indulge in some pure rock stupidity. I have to criticise the quality of some of the swears though – American insults are embarrassing at times. Going from ‘fucking prick’ and ‘dick’ to ‘stone douchebag’ – nah, total momentum killer.
That song is almost a bit of a red herring though as it isn’t all-out rock. There are more straight rockers interspersed throughout and for fans of ridiculous lyrics, there’s more – “Old ladies cum when I flash my junk”, “I’m gonna blow up a turd”. But the album changes gears between almost every track.
The ‘Every Loser’ title is reflected in the range of loser characters that Iggy highlights during the album. ‘Strung Out Johnny’ sees Iggy alternate between first person and narrator, reflecting on a descent into addiction. Perhaps a reflection on his own drug-fuelled 70s heyday. On ‘Morning Show’ he takes on the character of a morning TV/radio presenter; acting the pro and putting on a brave face to mask the troubles in his private life. ‘Comments’ sees someone searching for validation/love/whatever through social media. Almost every track plays like as a brief character sketch, or perhaps represents different aspects of Pop’s own personality.
New Atlantis is the most overtly sincere moment, with the last line revealing it as a tribute to Iggy’s adopted home of Miami. And closer ‘The Regency’ brings everything together with Pop switching from reflective storyteller in the verses to all attitude in the choruses.
He may not quite bring the same intensity he used to, but there’s a a versatility to Iggy’s voice; he’s still giving it an admirable try with a punk snarl that belies his age. While he can also take the role of old-man crooner, which can seem comforting in places and somber in others.
It’s a good, if not great album. The rockers are probably the weakest moments. They’re all perfectly acceptable, but nothing I could imagine going back to over any of his classic stuff. But in the context of the album they work almost as resets, with anything more reflective being quickly wiped away by a change in pace. The album isn’t long at 36 minutes anyway, but it feels like a particularly quick listen because the constant mood changes don’t let anything linger for too long. He could easily coast on his reputation and maybe knock out a covers album, but he shows here that he’s still capable of genuinely interesting stuff.
Best tunes: Strung Out Johnny, New Atlantis, The Regency
Tunes of the week
Public Image Ltd – Hawaii
I find John Lyndon to be a bit of an embarrassing old gobshite. It was announced earlier in the week that this would compete to be Ireland’s Eurovision entry. Then Lyndon slagged off Eurovision, which comes off as pathetic when it’s obviously being used as a bit of a publicity stunt.
But the song itself is pretty excellent. It was written for Lydon’s wife, who has Alzheimer’s and is like nothing you’d expect from Lydon given his public persona. It’s heartfelt, and kind of touching knowing the context. Lydon sings about a trip together to Hawaii, and his calls of ‘Remember Me’ act as a big emotional plea, halfway between despairing and hopeful.
The song has a dreamlike quality and, I can’t quite explain why, but the chorus somehow has a Disney vibe to it.
Lydon’s voice is really good and barely recognisable as the former Johnny Rotten. If you’ve heard Future Islands, it’s sounds a lot like them. If you haven’t heard Future Islands and like this, then listen to Future Islands.
Put aside any preconceptions you might have about Lydon, and appreciate this as a properly nice love song.
Ill Bill – Smarten Up feat. Nems
This has been out a few months but is a new discovery after hearing Nems last week. I could pretty much do a cut and paste from a lot of the Nems review last week. This is Nems with another New York underground rap veteran in Ill Bill.
Again, it’s straight forward stuff, with two skilled rappers doing their thing. This one is given a different vibe though by the old soul sample running through it. I love that contrast of the sweet, melancholic vocal with two rappers just spittin’ aggressive boasts over the top. Also, a big fan of them calling someone (seemingly the listeners) ‘stupid’ on a couple of occasions. The child-like simplicity of ‘stupid’, particularly when done by angry grown-ass men, is an underrated insult. And to someone with zero experience of Brooklyn, phrases like ‘Big Brooklyn Shit’ will somehow never not sound cool.
One for anybody who likes the old-school New York rap sound.
J.T. IV – Jet Lag Time Drag
Ok, here’s an obscure one for you. This is more newly unearthed, than actually new. From what I can gather, it was likely recorded at some point in the 80’s. J.T. IV or John Henry Timmis IV died in 2002 at the age of 40. He was committed to a psychiatric clinic by his mother in his teens, struggled with addiction, and held a Guinness World Record for directing the world’s longest film at over 3 and a half days. He also self-released some music, which was barely heard during his lifetime. One album was subsequently released in 2008, and this song is taken from a recently discovered cassette tape.
It sounds like it’s taken from a live performance, but that might just be a result of the recording quality. It’s got a glam/psychedelic buzz pushing it along in the background, building to (what sounds like) a sax freakout towards the end. All the while he sing/speaks a bizarre story full of surreal imagery, which could be total gibberish, or could be some profound poetry.
If I didn’t know better I could be tricked into thinking this was early 70s Bowie. The title even sounds like a Bowie song title. It’s a hidden gem, which feels more like the epic closer you’d see on some BBC4 documentary about a classic rock superstar.
Popcaan – We Caa Done feat. Drake
This song is ok, but really I just wanted to mention Drake doing Jamaican patois (note – Drake is not Jamaican). I reckon this is basically the rap equivalent of Steve McClaren doing the Dutch accent.
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