Matt Johnson has never been an artist who dares to walk the same
\npath twice in a row, even if it meant giving up commercial success.
\nAfter his band\/collective The The enjoyed the success of
\nDusk<\/i> and the pleasure of getting airplay with such songs as
\n“Slow Emotion Replay,” he took a step back and, in a shocking move
\nto some, chose to rework the songs of Hank Williams, Sr. on
\nHanky Panky<\/i>. Even so, each move has seemed to be a natrual
\nprogression for The The.<\/p>\n
So why is it that when I listen to
\nNakedSelf<\/i>, The The’s first released album in five years, I
\nfeel like we’ve missed a step along Johnson’s creative path?
\nThere’s some great material on this disc, but it almost is as if
\nwe’re joining a movie already in progress.<\/p>\n
Originally, The The were set to release an album named
\nGun Sluts<\/i> in 1997 – until Sony Music balked and said they
\nwouldn’t release it. (If I’ve read stories correctly, Johnson is
\nplanning on releasing this disc independently later this year.) So
\nmaybe
\nNakedSelf<\/i> is the next logical step from
\nGun Sluts<\/i> – and it might have been easier to make the
\ntransition from
\nHanky Panky<\/i> had we been able to listen to the entire
\nartistic process.<\/p>\n
Still, you deal with what you’ve got in front of you – and
\nNakedSelf<\/i> continues Johnson’s melancholic\/sarcastic look at
\nlife in general. As in many of The The’s greatest works, Johnson is
\nat his creative peak when he takes a look at the difficulties of
\nlife, whether they be loneliness (“The Whisperers”) or facing off
\nagainst a looming mid-life crisis (“Soul Catcher”). Most powerful
\nmoment, from “Soul Catcher”: “My life is halfway through \/ And I
\nstill haven’t done \/ What I’m here to do.” Ka-pow.<\/p>\n
Likewise, Johnson is not above thumbing his nose at society.
\nSimilar to his look at how organized religion may have missed the
\nmessage they claim to preach (“Armageddon Days Are Here (Again)”,
\nfrom
\nMind Bomb<\/i>), “Swine Fever” is a pretty powerful tirade
\nagainst how advertisers can brainwash you into buying something you
\nneither needed nor wanted. It’s not going to win him a lot of
\nfriends at the ad agencies, but you have to admire how Johnson uses
\nwords and music so forcefully.<\/p>\n
\nNakedSelf<\/i> comes to a boil at the closing track, “Salt
\nWater,” a song which seems to allow Johnson and his present
\npartner-in-crime, guitarist Eric Schermerhorn, a chance to let off
\nsome creative steam. The track itself sounds like it could have
\ncome from any ’80s new wave band, and is kind of fun.<\/p>\n
The biggest complaint I have with
\nNakedSelf<\/i> is many songs sound like they needed more
\ninstrumentation. “December Sunlight” and “Shrunken Man” are both
\nvery powerful songs lyrically, but musically, there’s not always
\nthe muscle present to back up the message. “December Sunlight” is
\nespecially guilty of this, featuring just Johnson on vocals and
\nSchermerhorn on guitars and bass. I don’t know exactly what it
\nneeded instrumentally, but I know it cried out for more.<\/p>\n
And, like many of The The’s albums, you really need to spend
\nsome time with
\nNakedSelf<\/i> to fully appreciate its power. “Global Eyes” is
\nanother stinging indictment of modern life (though I admit I’m
\nstill trying to uncover its full meaning), but it took me some
\nseven listens before I really got into this track. It reminds me a
\nlot of “Helpline Operator” off of
\nDusk<\/i>.<\/p>\n
\nNakedSelf<\/i> is the kind of album that will thrill the devotees
\nof The The, even if not a lot of the material on the disc is
\nwritten with the goal of radio airplay. (“Voidy Numbness” and,
\nthough it’s brief, “Salt Water” would be my selections if I were a
\nmusic director.) While it’s not always the easiest album from The
\nThe to get into, it is a nice return to the scene for Johnson.
\nHere’s hoping we don’t have to wait five years for the next
\nalbum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":25399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5669],"rating":[5612],"class_list":["post-36605","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-the","rating-rating-b-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36605"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36605"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}