The John Doe Thing – Kissingsohard

On his first solo album, Meet John Doe, the vocals were pushed forward as far as possible, establishing Doe as a frontman in the wake of the temporary demise of X. Combined with unimaginative roots-pop arrangements the results were somewhat less than spectacular. Not surprisingly the album was quickly forgotten.

On Kissingsohard Doe takes an entirely different tack. The 13 tracks here cover a lot of ground, as solo albums are prone to do: crash and burn guitars, string arrangements, and tape loops overwhelm some of the songs, and leave enough space for others to breathe. The string arrangements on “Tragedy By Definition” and “Field of Dirt” give those songs a beauty and poignancy nowhere to be found on the first album. Smokey Hormel’s flamenco-style guitar fills on “Going Down Fast” give the song a southwestern feel, and his smoldering leads in “Safety” give this lurching rocker the edge it needs.

The lyrical content is what we’ve come to expect from Doe – bleak character portraits and surroundings, yet not without a glimmer of hope as in “Field of Dirt”: “He’d unplug the phone/sleep in the kitchen/stay inside for days/no one noticed he was missing/stare at the wall/and keep on wishing.” And Doe manages to expand his vision beyond the confines of Los Angeles, although all of the songs retain a decidedly Western feel. In the case of “Willamette,” a homeless man in Oregon contemplates his life. Not surprisingly the two songs here co-written with Exene Cervenka, “Love Knows” and “My Goodness”, sound like they could be X songs: all poetic verses punctuated by choruses over the band’s roar.

Naming this project The John Doe Thing really tells the story here, emphasizing that this is a band effort. Sometimes all it takes to make a great solo album is a strong collaboration, no matter whose name is at the top of the bill. And bonus points for the superb artwork.