Music

Johnny Marr scores above par

Plabon Saha on the first solo album of Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr scores above par

At 49 years of age, it seems slightly odd that it took Johnny Marr this long to put out a solo album. Renowned for being the guitarist of the influential indie pop band The Smiths in the 80’s, Marr has been busy since then playing in many bands such as Modest Mouse, accompanied by The Healers and The Cribs. So, it’s fair to say that he’s been around the block a few times, mostly in groups without taking the role of the frontman. Well, you can argue that Johnny Marr and the Healers was a bit like Marr’s own band but I reckon The Messenger has a lot more guts than Boomslang, the Healer’s only album to date.

The album has all the markings of Marr’s trademark guitar riffs and manages to sound like a new age 80’s record without being tacky. The jangly riffs in the opening track ‘The Right Thing Right’ are quite reminiscent of the upbeat guitar playing on many Smiths tracks. You would hardly think this is a musician that’s been around for a while and despite all the nostalgia, the record manages to sound vibrant and fresh. The title track and ‘The Crack Up’ are fit to be played in any trendy bar where the DJ/Bar Staff has some good taste in music and don’t listen to Gangnam Style over and over again. ‘Upstarts’ is the second single to be released off the album and Marr’s guitar here is strongly backed by his strong vocals. All in all, it’s a solid debut effort from one of the best guitarist of all time.

It’s worth noting that the album has a nostalgic feel for any Smiths fan because while you recognise that familiar guitar-playing by Marr, the lyrics remind you just how good the Morrissey-Marr pairing really was. I have followed Morrissey’s solo work quite closely as well and the same can be noticed in his stuff as well, great lyrics that are just begging for Marr to lay the beats down. Some will say that The Smiths were good for their era and we shouldn’t temper with it. Knowing very well that they will (probably) never re-unite, I guess all I can do is listen to The Messenger and wonder what it could have been.

From Issue 1542

1st Mar 2013

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Read more

How the Supreme Court ruling on gender is impacting queer people at Imperial

News

How the Supreme Court ruling on gender is impacting queer people at Imperial

Last month, the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) ruled that for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010), the definition of a woman is based on biological sex.  The case brought before the court, For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers, asked if transgender women should be included

By Oscar Mitcham and Isabella Duchovny
College opens Imperial Global India in Bengaluru

News

College opens Imperial Global India in Bengaluru

Imperial College London has launched its fourth global hub in Bengaluru. The hub will host research programmes with Indian partners, focusing on some of “the world’s most pressing challenges in areas such as climate change and sustainability, food and water security, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).” Launched at the Science

By Mohammad Majlisi