ADULT
WORLD - Wayne Kramer (MuscleTone)
Fans of the ex-MC5 guitar terrorist are going to have to get used to the idea that whatever else he does, Brother Wayne is NOT going to re-make "The Hard
Stuff"
again and again. High-energy benchmark though it might have been, his Epitaph debut was also "the record you wind up with when you show up at Brett Gurewitz' office with an album you cut in Nashville." Studio assistance from Epitaph's stable of young lions gave "The Hard Stuff" a modern post-punk sound, and "Dangerous Madness" was more of the same (with Wayne and a couple of studio accomplices replacing the previous record's cast-of-thousands approach). But the real news on those two records was Wayne's developing songwriting chops and particularly, his growing mastery of the written word. While both records (particularly the second) benefited mightily from the contributions of Deviants "evil dictator" and pulp sci-fi supremo Mick Farren, tracks like the debut's spoken word excursions "Incident on Stock Island" and "So Long Hank" or the sophomore disc's cinematic "Back To Detroit" found Wayne starting to flex his lyrical muscle.
Myself, I'd say that Wayne didn't truly begin to come into his own as a solo artist until "Citizen Wayne," and then the musical settings that he and David Was crafted for his stories (showing an awareness of hip-hop, among other things not generally embraced by the typical Rock Action aficionado) turned off a lot of his core audience. Which left Wayne with a choice: to go his own way (the cat listens to modern R&B; why shouldn't his own music reflect that?) or to pander to audience expectations (which is no guarantee of mass-ass acceptance, either, the audience for high-energy rock'n'roll being such a minority one, the Hellacopters and Hives notwithstanding).
"Adult World" finds Wayne resolutely hewing to the first course. (Was there ever any doubt?) Recording on a Macintosh using Pro Tools (he's become quite the astute businessman in the years since his Epitaph deal went south; besides conducting Mac workshops in conjunction with his recent tour, he also picked up sponsorships from Fender and a clothing company - guess he DID learn something in those government-sponsored classes in small business management), playing almost all the instruments (except drums) himself, and writing EVERYTHING for the first time ever, he's crafted a powerful and intensely personal statement. The first thing you notice listening to this album is that the vocals are mixed right up front, so it's impossible to miss the lyrics - a good idea. Also, Wayne's tortuously lyrical guitar doesn't dominate the way you might expect it to; instead, it's integrated into muscular, well-honed arrangements, although he does still get the chance to step out and burn, particularly on the closing "Red Arrow," a tribute to his jail mentor and ex-Charlie Parker sideman Red Rodney. Rock anthems like "Brought a Knife to the Gunfight" and "Great Big Amp" carry words that deal with feeling inadequate (the former) and the misguided hope of every young rock'n'roller (the latter).
Typically for Bukowski fan Wayne, there are vignettes of the seamy side of life, particularly the title track (a journey into the "sex industry"), "Nelson Algren Stopped By" (a jazzy tribute to the author of "The Man With the Golden Arm" with backing by Chicago freeblow crew X-Mars-X), and "What About Laura?" (the tale of a teenage runaway with guest vocals by alt-folkie Syd Straw and a radio hit in a just world that doesn't exist). The Hellacopters even put in an appearance on "Talkin' Outta School."
Having managed the first great rock song about a CNN correspondent ("Christiana," the best thing on Mad For the Racket's "The Racketeers"), Wayne pulls off the same trick for the Cuban dictator in "Love, Fidel," and pays mad props to the Cleveland proto-punk scene in "The Slime That Ate Cleveland." Okay, so "The Hard Stuff Vol. 2" (or 3) this definitely ain't, but what it IS is the latest communiqué from a brother who refuses to rest on his laurels (there are fewer MC5 signifiers here than on any other Wayne record) and has never stopped challenging us, or himself. (How many other rock artists can make that claim?)
If Tom Waits (an admitted influence) can be the darling of the hipoisie, surely there must be an audience for music this honest, pure, and real. By now y'all are probably tired of me bestowing the five Rocks on this guy (Mad for the Racket excepted), but as long as he keeps making records like this one, I'll continue doing so. So there. - Ken Shimamoto
