John Doe preview

John Doe
Abbey Pub, Chicago
Sunday, July 15, 2007

John Doe has established enough of a solo career that it feels uncomfortable and lazy to keep mentioning his old band, Los Angelino punk juggernaut X.

An Exene Cervenka songwriting credit on Doe’s latest, A Year In The Wilderness (Yep Roc), will do that to a writer, but shit, “Darling Underdog” is by far its prettiest song and in no-way indicative of the Whiskey A Go-Go. The mere presence of roots rock rabble rouser Dave Alvin plainly signals the album’s microcosmic status in its author’s canon, but Doe is just too good a duet partner to ever separate him from his past.

Whether it’s Kathleen Edwards, Aimee Mann, or Jill Sobule, Doe never sounds better on Wilderness than when he’s trading lines or sharing choruses. The record’s heart is the five almost-consecutive tracks on which his guests appear, and they absolutely shine. That’s not to say the ragged “Unforgiven” is ineffectual — to the contrary, it probably sounds grittier than it is because of its context. “The Meanest Man In The World” comes across like the loneliest version of Sandy Denny’s “By The Time It Gets Dark,” mainly because you wait and wait for one of Doe’s partners to provide him comfort. They’re only a couple tracks away.

Dead Rock West and The August will open.

— Steve Forstneger

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Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly