Johnny Marr~ The Messenger

It’s common knowledge (amongst those bored enough to pay attention to such things) that Johnny is my favourite Smith. As in, Johnny Marr is my favourite member of The Smiths.
He has all of the brilliance and none of the arrogance.
You may or may not know he recently released a record, which was, rather surprisingly, his first solo record.
Since The Smiths breakup, he has floated on in Modest Mouse, enjoyed a stint with The Cribs, worked in super-duo Electronic, collaborated with Neil Finn and friends for the Seven Worlds Collide project, and worked on scoring a tiny film called Inception.
This album, however, is the first time we’ve heard him.
Album reviews aren’t my specialty, but more than a handful of readers have asked for my thoughts on this record so I’ll just share my opinion.
In all honesty, I love the record. I thought I would like it, out of respect liking it seemed a requirement, but I love it.
I hadn’t been able to form a cohesive opinion until chatting with a friend on Facebook; this is the conclusion I reached.
I was surprised by a lot of it. It’s catchy in a very unSmithsy way. Yes, I realise Morrissey isn’t involved in this effort, but Morrissey also can’t write a song alone, and Johnny Marr can. It’s reminiscent of something, or several somethings, and I can’t place them. I quite like that. It’s sort of jangly but not in an adult contemporary, Goo Goo Dolls way. It’s sort of Brit Pop, but not in a dreadful Coldplay tripe sort of way. It’s Johnny Marr.

Buy the record. See him on tour. He’s Johnny Marr, the Godlike Genius, after all.
I’ll be in Chicago….find me and say hello!

To find out when he’ll be in your area, go here