Fate has a way of putting things into an interesting context. When it was announced that
Iggy Pop would be collaborating with
Josh Homme of
Queens of the Stone Age, the music press buzzed with anticipation about the project. What would the proto-punk icon and the snarky hard rock smart guy come up with? The surprise answer is, in many respects, 2016's
Post Pop Depression, an unwitting but loving tribute to
Pop's friend and collaborator
David Bowie.
Post Pop Depression arrived two months after
Bowie's death, and was completed before his health problems became common knowledge. More than anything, though, this music evokes the sound and feel of
Pop's first two solo albums. 1977's
The Idiot and
Lust for Life were cut with
Bowie in Germany as
Pop struggled to make sense of his life and career after
the Stooges collapsed. With the reunited
Stooges gone following the deaths of
Ron and
Scott Asheton,
Post Pop Depression finds
Pop returning to the work he made in 1977, in ways that count the most.
Post Pop Depression is smart and thoughtful, intelligent without being pretentious, and full of bold but introspective thinking. While
Josh Homme is certainly no
David Bowie, he's a skilled musician who challenges
Pop in a way many of his previous producers have not. The sound of
Post Pop Depression occasionally gestures to
Bowie's work, with and without
Pop, but
Homme has given this music a personality of its own. Dark and richly textured,
Post Pop Depression puts
Pop's craggy but authoritative voice and intelligent tirades front and center.
Homme and his rhythm section of
Dean Fertita and Matt Helders have created strong, muscular backdrops for
Pop's lyrics that add to their power. They counter his thoughtful anger with sounds that are rich, cleanly designed, and a successful compliment for the star's work.
Pop has suggested that
Post Pop Depression may be his last album, and if that's true, it wraps up his career with a strong and atypical work. It tips its hat to
Bowie, but also to the freedom and creative possibilities
Pop discovered in their collaborative work. It confirms that
Pop has never lost the ability to surprise and upend expectations. In the bitter rant that closes "Paraguay,"
Pop declares he wants to run away and live as "your basic clod." It's an ironic thought, closing an album that once again proves
Pop never was and never will be an ordinary guy. ~ Mark Deming