OH, gawd. PiL have been
a negligible musical force since Jah Wobble left them way back in the
Middle Ages or whenever it was, and it always surprises me that they
continue to bother. Over a mildly pleasant but unsurprising tanned and
bleached riff, Lydon does his cabaret turn, lurching sarcastically between
mock-operatic, elongated falsetto and a sudden, snide baritone. A couple
of years back, John Lydon told The Maker "I'm a threat to the majority
and always will be". It's difficult to imagine in what world this
record represents a disturbance, or what preconceptions it challenges.
Lydon still seems to address us all as if we're Bill Grundy though,
as his current round of interviews will doubtless show, he s grown up
into as shrewd and charismatic an old darling as ever bagged a two-page
colour spread.
Perhaps he should retire
and set up a consultancy service for aspiring, post punk ironicists.
As it is, this is more Carry On Johnny. Did Sid die for this? (Sid James,
that is). |