Iggy Pop was 75 years old when he released
Every Loser in January 2023, and anyone who ever heard
Metallic KO, the shambolic semi-bootleg document of
Iggy and the Stooges collapsing during a disastrous final concert in 1974, has to marvel at that fact. There have been any number of reasons to call game over on
Pop and his musical career in the past half-century, and that he's both ambulatory and productive is a welcome surprise. What's all the more remarkable is
Every Loser happens to be a very good rock & roll album. Plenty of musicians would age out of playing music as aggressive as
Pop's on
Every Loser, and even more to the point, on albums like 2009's
Preliminaires, 2012's
Apres, and 2019's
Free,
Pop seemed to have burned out on the very idea of rock & roll, aiming for more subtle and contemplative sounds in his golden years. For whatever reason, when producer
Andrew Watt approached
Pop about making an album, he decided he was game, and
Every Loser is big, loud, and brimming with piss and vinegar. Its cranky and opinionated soul suggests 2001's
Beat Em Up, the nadir that came before
the Stooges reunion gave
Pop a second wind, though
Every Loser succeeds where that album failed. Part of the credit goes to
Watt, who has brought together some worthy talent to back up his star, including
Duff McKagan of
Guns 'N Roses,
Chad Smith and
Josh Klinghoffer of
the Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Stone Gossard of
Pearl Jam, and
Taylor Hawkins of the
Foo Fighters in one of his final recorded performances.
Watt hasn't used his supporting cast for star power, but to give the music a combination of muscle and finesse, and that's just what he gets -- this music can leave a bruise when it needs to on tracks like "Frenzy" and "Modern Day Rip Off," but can also generate a dark and potent groove on more measured numbers like "Strung Out Johnny" and "Morning Show," and they've helped him craft some viable melodies that are simple but not dumb. The greater credit, of course, goes to
Pop himself.
Every Loser may be full of cranky musings, but they're smart cranky musings, and along with the tirades against 21st century culture, there are some insightful musings about addiction, the joys and terrors of life in Miami, and the surprising pleasures of still being alive.
Pop sings with passion, force, and genuine authority, sometimes suggesting his age but sounding far more limber than he should. At 75,
Iggy Pop is happy to be smart, pissed off, capable of writing good songs about it all, and singing with a crack rock band behind him. There's a heady joy in his bile that's infectious, and
Every Loser is a weirdly joyous celebration of life from someone who knows why you shouldn't toss it aside. ~ Mark Deming
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