Sixty-Seven Better Ways To Make Some Sense

Morrissey “Redondo Beach” – I don’t expect much from Morrissey these days, but it’s not because his solo material is awful, but rather that I just can’t bring myself to care. After all, it took me long enough just to learn to appreciate The Smiths. At the pace I’m going, solo Moz (with only a few notable exceptions, such as “The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get” and “The Teachers Are Afraid Of The Pupils”) can wait a few decades. However, this live cover of Patti Smith’s “Redondo Beach” is a revelation. Morrissey’s take on the song is more mannered and slick than Smith’s original recording, but it sounds so natural and effortless that it now seems as though the song was retroactively written for him to perform. It plays to all of his strengths as a vocalist, and the morbid romance and dark humor in the lyrics may as well have come from his own pen. Definitely a case of influence and the influenced coming full circle. (See also: “E-Bow The Letter”) (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Herman Düne “Not On Top” – I suppose that it’s something almost everyone goes through – that point in your 20s when you notice that you’re older than some of people in the bands you see, the actors you see on the screen, in the galleries, at your school, at your job. But you’re not old. You don’t feel like a kid, but you’re definitely not a real grown-up. As the song goes, you’re “Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman.” (Feel free to substitute masculine pronouns if that makes you feel better.) In this song, Herman Düne nails that anxiety with an impressive degree of specificity, humor and clarity. It’s a Dylan-y sort of folk rock song, but refreshingly, there is no rhythm guitar in the arrangement, only a simple bass/drum/keyboard groove and occasional lead guitar on the breaks. (Click here to buy it from Track & Field.)