Seminal ‘70s punk rock guitarist generates new heat

It’s hard to believe it’s been thirty-plus years since Richard Hell & The Voidoids released their seminal punk rock album Blank Generation. It’s even harder to believe that Voidoids guitarist Ivan Julian would still be rocking so loud and edgily in his mid-50s. Julian’s guitar has appeared on a lot of great albums over the years, including the Clash’s Sandanista! and Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend, but this is the first album to feature his name above the title. Much like his guitar-playing career, there’s a lot of variety here, mixing angular, Voidoids-styled punk with shades of Love, the New York Dolls and Troggs, Hendrix inspired rock (particularly the ravenous “The Naked Flame”), and speedy funk numbers propelled by the bass playing of Coni Duchess. “A Young Man’s Money” alludes to Mose Allison by way of the Who with the song’s title and to Hendrix with the lyric “and six is nine.” The album takes a breather for the acoustic blues “You is Dead” and closes more experimentally with the distressed slide guitar of “Broken Butterflies” and the noise and spoken word “Godiva.” This album was released in Spain under the name Ivan Julian and Capsula in 2009, but makes its worldwide debut just now. [©2011 hyperbolium dot com]

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