TIM ARMSTRONG – A Poet’s Life (Hellcat)
Original release date: May 22nd, 2007
It’s not too big a surprise that for his first solo album, Tim Armstrong (of ’77-style punks Rancid, as well as The Transplants) has delivered a bluebeat-inspired ska record. Ska has frequently been a feature of his main outfit, and was even more integral to his first influential band, Operation Ivy.
However, the commercial sound of first single Into Action – a disposable slice of pop-reggae featuring Avril Lavigne-alike poppet Skye Sweetnam – is a shock (even given that Armstrong has bemused his hardcore fans in the past with actions such as co-writing songs for P!nk), although its flavour isn’t characteristic of the album, which predominantly has a more two-tone retro sound.
I was more taken aback by the realisation that Armstrong just can’t sing any more. Throughout the album, his slurred vocals sound like they’ve been delivered underwater with a mouthful of marbles. When, on Oh No, he sings “I love rock ‘n’ roll”, it sounds more like, “Arrrghhhgorra buh bhuh do arrrrggghhhhnnnn”.
Lyrics also find him retreading old ground with diminishing returns. Into Action’s first two verses are basically a rewrite of Roots Radicals (from Rancid’s …And Out Come The Wolves album), while Among The Dead looks back at the breakup of Op Ivy in the same way that Journey To The End Of The East Bay (ditto) did – but whereas the latter song was a heartfelt tribute, the new one almost comes off as a plug for the remastered reissue of Op Ivy’s studio output.
That said, I don’t think Armstrong is capable of writing a bad tune, and his seven-piece backing band The Aggrolites are tight indeed. Laid-back and catchy songs like Wake Up and Hold On will get stuck in your head for days, Inner City Violence adds a darker shade to the album’s palette and there’s even an instrumental (Cold Blooded) to close the record. But it’s still far from the type of classic album he’s produced with various groups in the past.
A Poet’s Life also comes with a bonus DVD of B&W film clips for each of the ten tracks on the album.
Owen Heitmann