Iggy Pop – Every Loser (Gold Tooth/Atlantic)

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Iggy Pop gets things underway with his 19th solo album, Every Loser. It’s a collaboration with Grammy winning producer Andrew Watt along with some special friends.

Yes, that’s right, Iggy, aka James Osterberg, aka The Godfather of Punk, is still with us and still rocking at age 75, having outlived his friends, bandmates and contemporaries such as David Bowie, Lou Reed, The Ashton Brothers, even Taylor Hawkins, who appears on this record.

For those who think of Iggy as a simple-minded rocker covered with peanut butter, think again. Or rather check out his BBC Radio 6 programme, Iggy Confidential. I recommend beginning with this excellent episode with guest Brian Eno broadcast in October: https://youtu.be/qFkpsobGh-c

Yes, Iggy is indeed and man of wealth and taste (and intelligence) but as opening track Frenzy, confirms, he still knows how to rock.

“Got a dick and two balls, that’s more that you all”, he declares, and who are we to argue?

Ever the poet, Iggy is accompanied by a lineup of rock all-stars including Duff McKagan (Guns ‘N Roses), Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam), Dave Navarro & Eric Avery (Jane’s Addiction), Chad Smith & Josh Klinghoffer (RHCP) while Hawkins appears on two tracks.

But the heavy lifting is done by producer Andrew Watt, who has worked with everyone from Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa to Ozzy Osbourne and Post Malone.

Watt proves to be more than up to the task, co-writing all 11 tracks and playing guitar, bass, keys throughout…that’s Andrew’s guitar we hear, sounding like a buzzsaw as the record gets underway.

Frenzy is followed by Strung Out Johnny, perhaps my favourite on the album (for now). With a bass line (played by Watt) sounding suspiciously like Nirvana’s Come As You Are, the track has a sleek urgency that compliments Iggy’s voice perfectly.

Then its all aboard to New Atlantis, Iggy’s ode to his adopted home of Miami, Florida. Again, the intro reminds me of another classic…Alice Cooper’s Steven…and Iggy the poet strikes again, calling Miami ‘a beautiful whore of a city’.

Modern Day Ripoff finds Iggy in prime Stooges form sounding like a Funhouse outtake. Gotta love that incessant 1-note piano riff by Watt.

From there Iggy gets sensitive on Morning Show. ‘I’m crispy on the outside and juicy where I cry’ Iggy laments in that low-register growl. All right, maybe that’s not a line that Dylan would be proud of, but it works for Iggy.

There are a couple of brief interludes (total album running time is 36:57) on side two along with Neo Punk where Iggy takes aim at some of his less talented followers…speaking of which, Blink 182’s Travis Barker is playing drums here…just sayin’.

All The Way Down features Stone Gossard and again reminds this old rocker of The Stooges.

‘This ain’t no Free As A Bird, I’m gonna blow up a turd’…thanks for the warning Iggy!

The album wraps with Comments and The Regency (with an interlude separating them). Both feature late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins and both find Iggy with plenty to say….one about social media, the other about big business.

But don’t worry, they both rock relentlessly.

So as Dave Navarro and Andrew Watt’s guitars rip through the speakers and Iggy hollers, ‘Fuck the Regency’, Every Loser goes down with guns blazing.

Not a bad way to start a new year.

Marty Duda

Marty Duda
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