Jane Wiedlin, “Jane Wiedlin” (IRS, 1985)
Solo ddebut from the Go-Gos guitar goddess features her trademark high-pitched quirky keening over a fine batch of songs that run from glittering power-pop to cool synth numbers.
Try 1/1, 2/ 1, 2/3, 2/ 4 (which features Billy Zoom of X on lead guitar!)
1/23/14
Johanna Went, “Hyena” (Posh Boy, 1982)
Damn near uncategorizable artifact from postpunk L.A. Went was a performance artist who did a lot of interesting birth/disemboweling/etc. stuff with sausages, ketchup, and what look like live worms in this one picture. The music is her ululating incomprehensible gibberish over an ultra-Kinetic, tonality-defying mélange of sKa, hardcore, new wave, Beefheart-style skronk-rock, and pretty much anything else you could imagine. If you like James Chance and Nina Hagen but don’t think they went far enough, this one’s for you.
Try A/2, A/3, B/3
1/23/14
Jody Watley, “Jody Watley” (MCA, 1987)
Ex-Shalamar vocalist’s debut album, the first r & b record to assimilate fully the sounds of contemporary (late -80s) hip-hop. The result: slamming beats and subtle, insinuating melodies carrying Watley’s cool, nasal, sensual voice.
Try A/1, B/2
11/26/11
Johnny Thunders, “The New Too Much Junkie Business” (ROIR, 1983)
The great man’s last burst of first-rate original work before Mr. Brownstone impeded his functionality beyond the point of no return. A wild, off-kilter kaleidoscope of cubist-stones blues blowouts, bitter, bleary-eyed late-night balladry, shambling live workouts complete with Shangri-Las-style backup gals, and the man’s inimitable monologues.
Try 1, 2, 4, 9
7/11/18
Johnny Thunders, “So Alone” (Real/Sire, 1978)
First, and best, solo album from the legendary N.Y. Dolls guitarist. This does feature some insane guitar, but the primary focus is on J. T. as a singer, songwriters and iconic rock’n’roll frontman. The material ranges from genuinely heart-tugging to brutally nasty, and it all exudes the mammoth charisma the man commanded in his prime.
Try 2, 9
4/30/12
Jack Ruby, “Jack Ruby” (UgEXPLODE, 2011; originally recorded 1974, 1977)
Proto-no-wave NYC noise-rock from well before even punk (bassist George Scott went on to the Contortions and 8-Eyed Spy). Wild rhythm-and-tonality-smashing rampages that actually have a solid rock and roll bottom, like they saw Capt. Beefheart and MC5 as basically the same thing.
Try 1, 2
8/29/12
Joey Ramone, “ .. . ya know?” (BMG, 2012)
Second posthumous LP. Considering the guy died ten years ago, this is a surprisingly strong, coherent collection of recordings, the tempos slower than the Ramones but the guitars still gritty, and the singing and songwriting deepening into an odd kind of urban, punk soul music.
Try 1, 4, 9, 11
5/23/12
Joe Piscopo, “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” (CBS, 1982)
The SNL comedian in character as Frank Sinatra singing a medley of new wave hits. It actually works as music, both because Piscopo knows Frank and because new wave was a natural fit for this sort of pop theatre of the bizarre.
Try 1/1
10/2/18
Jessica Pratt, “Jessica Pratt” (Birth, 2013)
First release on Tim Presley (White Fence)’s new label, and it’s a great start. This is stark, voice-and-acoustic-guitar-at-3AM freak-folk that’s genuinely freaky, and haunting. The songs linger in the loneliest places in the heart, and Pratt sings like Jandek and Stevie Nicks’s love child. One of the year’s very best.
Try 1/1, 1 /5.
9/6/13
Jessica Pratt, “On Your Own Love Again” (Drag City, 2015)
This acoustic acid-folk singer-songwriter’s stark, shadowy, ravishing debut was one of the best albums of 2013. This follow-up isn’t as direct, but when it sinks in there’s clearly an extension into new fields of melodic complexity and narrative sound-calligraphy. Great to see a performer so daring take even more risks, and have them pay off.
Try 1, 3, 8
2/21/16