Fat Possum
Forty-some odd years ago The Stooges were arguably the greatest band alive. Dangerous unhinged and intense they left three classic albums behind became the godfathers of punk rock and catapulted Iggy Pop to superhuman status. In 2013 they’re a bunch of 60-somethings who just don’t know how to quit.
The band now features original Stooges Iggy and Scott Asheton as well as longtime members James Williamson and Steve Mackay along with punk vet Mike Watt. They’ve got another chance with Fat Possum after Virgin released the stinker comeback album The Weirdness in 2007.
For anyone still excited by The Stooges making new music Ready to Die is an improvement but not by much. The band comes off like Iggy’s stooges simply laying down riffs to accommodate his mostly senseless and embarrassing lyrics about having a shitty occupation (“Job”) and his love for breasts (“DD”).
Ironically it’s the three ballads that reveal any sort of purpose for The Stooges to exist at this point. And as “The Departed” demonstrates Iggy’s better off grabbing Rick Rubin to produce an album in this style than trying to be a punk at 66.
