Reprinted from Green Man Review.
John Doe has long been one of my musical heroes. As co-leader of the Los Angeles-based punk (and postpunk) band X, he and former wife Exene Cervenka brought incisive, poetic lyrics to the music’s sharp political observations and passionate energy. As a solo artist, he brings all that as well as humility and humor to his performances, but his recordings have been spotty. He has begun to rectify that with 2005′s Forever Hasn’t Happened Yet and especially with his new A Year in the Wilderness.
I’ll start right off with the third track, “The Golden State,” which I’m predicting will be my Song of the Year. It’s a chugging rocker, a duet with Canadian alt-country singer Kathleen Edwards (one of three on the CD), with a boatload of lyrical and musical hooks. The two swap lines that cast the love-hate aspect of a longterm relationship into sharp relief: “You are the hole in my head / I am the pain in your neck…” etc., followed by a sing-along chorus.
The album’s 12 tracks comprise roughly equal numbers of electric rockers and quieter acoustic fare. Of the latter there are “A Little More Time,” a nostalgic country song with more harmony vocals from Edwards; the folky “Meanest Man in the World” with a great country sound provided by Greg Leisz’s pedal steel and Dave Alvin’s baritone guitar; the anguished love song “Grain of Salt” with screaming pedal steel from Leisz that reflects the singer’s emotional state; and especially “The Bridge.” This is a gentle romantic ballad that paints a picture of the singer and someone else addressed as “you,” in separate rooms of the same hotel, watching a train cross a bridge outside their separate windows. The singer’s isolation is highlighted by putting Doe’s highly processed vocals on just the right side, with most of the instruments on the left, like old-fashioned stereo separation. Very moving and effective.
Doe brings the rock on “Hotel Ghost,” which echoes some of the imagery of the old X song, “Motel Room in my Bed”; “Darling Underdog,” co-written with Exene; the slow-burning “Unforgiven”; and the equally driving and bluesy “There’s a Hole” and “Big Moon.”
Guest vocalists in addition to Edwards are Aimee Mann (“Unforgiven”) and Jill Sobule (“Darling Underdog”). In addition to Leisz and Alvin, The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach contributes lots of tasty guitar work on three tracks, and Dave Way some sweet Leslie guitar on “Unforgiven.” The core band is Dave Carpenter on bass, Bryan Head on drums and Jamie Muhoberac on keyboards. I’m going to go out on a very short limb and say I suspect this album was, like his previous, mostly recorded live in the studio — that seems to be the way Doe works best and produces his best work. And A Year in the Wilderness is definitely among his best.
Yep Roc offered some bonus tracks that included an acoustic version of “Golden State” that was a little slower and plodding; a stripped-down mix of “Unforgiven”; and a very nice cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You.” It was a brave choice of songs to cover, and offers proof, if anybody needed it, that John Doe is a superb interpreter of songs. His melancholy, slightly foggy voice is a good fit for this sad love song — it’s a shame it wasn’t included on the release.
(Yep Roc, 2007)
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