Reviews: December 2007
JOHN DOE
Forever Hasn’t Happened Yet (Yep Rock)
The former X punk frontman’s journey into country has been gradual and almost unnoticed over the past few years, but with this album it’s hard to imagine he ever played anything else. Enlisting the help of a hoard of talented musos, Forever Hasn’t Happened Yet is as sophisticated as it is rough-shot and real.
There’s a high level of rollicking momentum within the songs, Dave Alvin adding an almost honky tonk feel to ‘Losing Kind’ and ‘Mama Don’t’, while Grant Lee Phillips adds his unique, distinctly rural feel to ‘Heartless’ and ‘Twin Brother’. It’s the second half of the album though, when Doe teams up with ladies like Neko Case or Kristen Hersh, that the songs’ chemistry seems complete. Their duets give the songs a tenderness that simply sounds like remorse in earlier tracks.
John Doe has re-invented himself with this album, paving the way for a bright but not necessarily chirpy country career.
BAD BRAINS
Build A Nation (Oscillscope/Stomp)
It’s hard to comprehend that this is brand new music from rasta-punk’s forefathers, the Bad Brains of Dr. Know, Earl, Darryl and H.R., together again for the for the first time after 18 years apart.
There’s a potency here that screams loud and gives more credence to punk’s rebellious relevance than people a quarter the band’s age! Melding crunching guitar chords and speed with breakdowns of pure dub, it’s the blueprint that Bad Brains made, but it’s better than ever. What makes Bad Brains’ punk better is their fight for (Jah) love, the music’s thrash and aggression underpinning a wholly positive and important message against today’s bitter dystopia.
No-one these days returns decades after their inception to make something as good or even better than their original efforts – The Stooges failed, The Sex Pistols failed, Henry Rollins continues to fail, but somehow Bad Brains have surpassed (and fuck, it’s good to have H.R. back!).
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