Would you believe that
Mike Johnson's new album is a bright and sunny pop confection that will have you singing along full blast with the top down on your way to the beach? Nah, you're not that gullible, are you? The truth is that the man who makes
Mark Lanegan seem like the guy wearing a lampshade at the office party (at the firm of Gloom, Doom, and Misery) is back, and he is as somber and unflinchingly dark as ever. This time he is kind of angry, too, instead of hopelessly melancholy. Apart from the distraught beer-in-my-tears ballad "If the World Hadn't Gone Insane," he's also set aside the country influences that permeated his previous work. Gone as well are the orchestral arrangements and wide-screen productions. What remains on
Gone Out of Your Mind is a stripped-down, storming guitar record with a decidedly stark view of the politics and morality of the day. The two centerpieces of the album are the blazing cover of
Junior Byles' "Fade Away" and "Pass By," both of which feature desperate and searching vocals from
Johnson and titanic guitar duels with him and Brett Nelson torching their respective fretboards. The rest of the album is just as desperate and raw. On the uptempo tracks like "On Track Now" and "Can't Get It Right,"
Johnson and his band,
the Evildoers (including Nelson, Jim Roth of
Built to Spill on bass, and Jason Albertini on drums), kick up lots of angry dust; on the ballads like "Gone Out of Your Mind" they sound positively wounded and alone. This is not a record for the faint of heart or the easily bruised.
Mike Johnson is either one of the most broken men in the musical world or he is a damn fine actor. Either way, this album is a welcome return for an underrated artist who deserves some attention. And one who needs a hug or ten. ~ Tim Sendra