But sometimes you just want him to rock, like he did on 1995’s “Ground on Down.” He’s assembled a new band that seems dedicated to just that, and it’s a beautiful thing. “Soul of My Soul” rarely settles for a middle ground, and there’s an urgency to the arrangements that serves the urgency in Shocked’s voice.ĪLBUM: WHITE LIES FOR DARK TIMES (Virgin Records)īen Harper is that rare talent able not only to vacation in the worlds of gospel, soul, folk and even reggae, but to meld them together gracefully on both album and stage. There’s also “Other People,” deceptively easygoing and lyrically deceptive, too: It’s a breakup song detailing a citizen re-examining her relationship with her country. On the “love” side, Shocked is celebrating her partner, artist David Willardson, with such cuts as the acoustic confessional “True Story” and the twangy, Bonnie Raitt-like “Love’s Song.” For the angry part of the equation, anthemic roots-rocker “Ballad of the Battle of the Ballot and the Bullet Part 1: Ugly Americans” delivers an uncompromising indictment of the past eight years.
Such is the case with Michelle Shocked’s 13th album, which navigates deftly between those opposing emotions. Love and hate coexist uneasily in life, but in song they can spawn revelatory artistry. ARTIST: MICHELLE SHOCKEDĪLBUM: SOUL OF MY SOUL (Mighty Sound Records) Johansen’s verbalized street strut - equal parts Mick Jagger’s twisting tongue and Rufus Thomas’ guttural growl - is never so pleasing as it is when bent around polysyllabic rhymes invoking a “bloody mess” and “permanent apocalypse” on “Muddy Bones,” the “exacerbations, excruciations” on “Making Rain.” The original musical influences are broadly reflected in the ‘66 Stones sound of “Better Than You,” the Rascals homage “Lonely So Long,” the “Philly soul Chicago-style” of “Nobody Got No Bizness” and the revival of the Dolls’ own “Trash.” Maturity doesn’t hurt, and the poignancy remains: “Tried to bum a cigarette - nobody smokes no more,” as Johansen sings, are the words of one bemused by a changed world in which he’ll always have a place, if not the one youthful dreams imagined. This is the work of rock ‘n’ roll survivors, funky if not chic, and more rewarding for its moments of candid sadness. Singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Mizrahi (previously Sylvain Sylvain) have seamlessly integrated newer members Steve Conte (guitar), Sami Yaffa (bass) and Brian Delaney (drums) Todd Rundgren returns as producer, reprising that role 36 years after driving the Dolls’ legendary debut. NEW YORK (Billboard) - The unlikely resurrection of the New York Dolls is solidified by this second recent album, an output that now matches in quantity and mirrors in quality their epic early-‘70s sprint. Singer David Johansen of the legendary punk rock band New York Dolls performs on the mainstage at the 35th annual Bumbershoot Seattle Arts Festival September 2, 2005.