The return of Dan Stuart has been one of the least expected comebacks in recent times.
The ex-leader of the great (but hopelessly dysfunctional) 80s combo Green On Red was long thought to have been lost to drugs and a self-destructive lifestyle, before he suddenly resurfaced in 2012 with solo album The Deliverance Of Marlowe Billings and, shortly after, a ‘false memoir’ of the same name. Marlowe’s Revenge proves that his creative well is far from dry.
Recorded in his new home of Mexico with local instrumentalists Twin Tones, Stuart’s sneery voice and misanthropic worldview finds succour in songs with a suitably gnarly edge. At times Twin Tones sound like a vampy garage band (Hola Guapa; All Over You), at others like Mexicali blues chuggers (Last Blue Day) or, as on the terrific The Whores Above, a menacing upgrade on GOR themselves.
And while there are shades of Dylan, Bowie and the Stooges here, the slow-jamming The Knife tells you all you need to know about Stuart’s singular journey through life and his regret over so many wasted years.
