Ready To Die – Iggy And The Stooges

The reunion of Iggy Pop and James Williamson made for an incendiary tour in 2010 playing songs from their Raw Power and Kill City LPs. Job done. So why run the risk of releasing new material ? The precedent of reunited bands recording new tracks is not good. The Velvet’s Coyote was underwhelming. Big Star’s In Space added little to their reputation. The Stooges (not Iggy And The Stooges) The Weirdness was dull. And how could Pop and Williamson ever  recreate the fevered desperation that spawned Raw Power and Kill City thirty years ago? The great news is they don’t even try. This is a grown-up album that never aims for maturity. And it is definitely an old-school album – a mere 10 tracks  that clock in at less than 35 minutes. The sound is heavy pop – catchy melodies, great one-liners (“nipples come and nipples go”) and fabulous riffs. ‘Gun’ has some of the affectionate satire of Back In The USA. ‘Beat That Guy’ features chick singers and an elegaic solo from Williamson that may be one of his best recorded moments. A real departure comes with a brace of quiet, reflective but not maudlin ballads in Unfriendly World and The Departed, the latter a moving tribute to deceased Stooge bass-player Ron Asheton. The best of these songs will fit snugly into a live Stooges set without prompting a mass exodus to the bar at the words “Here’s one from our new LP….”. And considering their illustrious predecessors that is praise indeed.