Morrissey, onstage in Manchester, England, promotes his new album, You Are the Quarry, and though it says the same things as ever, it says them masterfully.
In this world, there are two kinds:
(1) People who love Morrissey.
(2) People who love the Smiths.
Oh, and a third group: those of you reading this and asking, "What in tarnation is this girl talking about?"
For those of you fuzzy on your 1980s British pop, we'll get to some history in few more paragraphs, but the point is that we may have harmony at last 'tween old-school Smiths fans and those more enamored of the solo Morrissey. That's because You Are the Quarry, the long-awaited new album from Morrissey, 45, is so magnificent, so resplendent with sweeping, gorgeous melodies, so filled with cutting guitar, that even the most stubborn Smiths freak must give it up to our boy Moz.
Odd thing is, the formula is pretty much the same on this, the seventh solo album from the guy who put the dour in pompadour. Quarry is filled with the same rants about insane political leaders, the same whiny, masochistic love songs and diatribes about what greedy, fat pigs Americans are. It's just done with such musical finesse.
First, a history:
The Smiths were the super-influential quartet that formed in Manchester, England, in 1983. The interesting thing about the band was that, while the rest of Britain was dabbling in synthesizers and foo foo haircuts, the Smiths bucked trends by playing traditional guitar music, amped by guitarist Johnny Marr's jangly playing and lead singer Morrissey's outspoken, socially conscious lyrics.
Boy, did that guy hate Margaret Thatcher, or what? Morrissey made no bones about his disdain for the conservative Thatcher in interviews and lyrics. Morrissey also rallied against meat eaters and celebrated his ambiguous sexuality in songs, which earned him a die-hard cult of fans.
By 1987, the Smiths had called it quits, and the band's eccentric lead singer began a solo career. Fans were polarized.
Without Marr's distinctive guitar playing and the galloping rhythm section of drummer Mike Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke behind him, a bit of Morrissey's majesty, for some, was lost.
Critically, too, the solo Morrissey fell out of favor. Viva Hate (1988), his first solo album, met with good reviews, but increasingly, each of Morrissey's releases disappointed (with the exception of 1992's Your Arsenal).
Despite the Smiths' incalculable influence on the 1990s Britpop scene - ever heard Blur, Oasis and Pulp? - the solo Morrissey had become a pariah in the British press. In America? All but forgotten.
Until now.
You Are the Quarry is one of the year's best albums. From the opener, America Is Not the Word, the singer, who now resides in sunny Los Angeles, attacks his adopted home. "America, your belly's too big," Morrissey sings in a tenor that has become more fine-tuned with age. Yet, after all the finger-pointing, and commentary about the U.S.'s wicked foreign policy, it's poignant to hear Morrissey sign off, "America, I love you."
The cultural commentator also sounds off on the Irish-English war, organized religion, and, naturally, the state of his woe-filled love life. Quarry's zingiest song is the bouncy I Like You. The uptempo dance number finds Morrissey celebrating his dumb luck for falling for someone as nutty as he:
You're not right in the head and nor am I
and this is why
I like you
Morrissey sings, his voice filled with sunshine.
Is Morrissey happiest when he's sad?
He has certainly never minced words when he's annoyed. In a recent Entertainment Weekly interview, the singer was his usual outspoken self. Morrissey was thrilled Quarry is getting good notices, delighted to be in the limelight again, but not happy to share that space with the likes of Britney Spears, whom he called "the devil."
That's right. The devil.
"The way she projects herself and the fact that she is so obviously vacuous. I think it's such a shame that she became so influential to very small children," Morrissey told EW.
"Most of the faces I see on the covers of American music magazines are just dreadful - people with nothing to offer the world at all."
Hear! Hear! Get this man on the cover of Rolling Stone.
When?
As old-school Smiths fans might say, "How soon is now?"
* * *
SONGWRITERS AT YEOMAN'S: Catch some of the Tampa Bay area music scene's snazziest songwriters performing acoustic sets at the Yeoman's Road Songwriter Showcase 9:30 p.m. Friday at Yeoman's Road, 263 E Davis Blvd., Tampa. The talent includes, in order of appearance, Brian Merrill (Barely Pink), Steve Alex (Four Star Riot), John McNicholas (John McNicholas Band, Sparky's Nightmare), and Ted Lukas of Hangtown. $3. (813) 251-2748.
DYLAN FOR DOLLARS: Mark your calendar for "Dylan For Dollars" June 5 at Skipper's Smokehouse. The all-day event, a benefit to raise dough for community radio station WMNF-FM 88.5 to keep building its new building, features 30 of the bay area's most imaginative musical acts, in genres from rockabilly to reggae, performing their renditions of Bob Dylan tunes.
The performers include Barely Pink, Crabgrass Cowboys, the Downshifters, Handshake Squad, Anna O., Jeremy Gloff, Jen Shamro, Mojo Gurus, Paul Reller, Lance Rowland, the Peabodies, Rebekah Pulley, Ronny Elliott, Sparky's Nightmare, Squirrels Gone Wild, Steve Connelly, Michelle Ari, the Diviners, Tribal Style, Triple Threat, the Vodkanauts and more.
Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. (813) 238-8001.
- Gina Vivinetto can be reached at 727 893-8565 or gina@sptimes.com
