Iggy Pop – Every Loser

Few artists have had a history like Iggy Pop. The ‘godfather of punk’ and much more has a legacy that anyone else would kill for, his own iconic, signature personality (including straight long hair & never wearing a shirt), yet with all of that comes the threat that the history overshadows anything new that he does. But he still stays strong with Every Loser.

And age has not mellowed Iggy Pop, as can be seen with the fierce energy of Loser opener “Frenzy”, or the frenetic “Neo Punk”. There is definitely a sense of ‘Iggy doing what Iggy has long done best’ – if you’re gonna hear a “Strung Out” song, might as well be “Strung Out Johnny” from the famed heroin survivor. He gives kiss-offs in “Modern Day Rip Off” and “Comments”, some gravelly spoken word in “The News For Andy” & “My Animus Interlude”, and even a tribute to his “whore of a city” that’s sinking into the sea, Miami, with “New Atlantis”.

While not as obvious in stacking up the great contributors as 2016’s Post Pop Depression (QRO review), Every Loser still has a backing band drawn from Guns n’ Roses & Red Hot Chili Peppers (Duff McKagan, Chad Smith, Josh Klinghoffer), and guests from the likes of Jane’s Addiction, Pearl Jam, and even Foo Fighters’ late Taylor Hawkins (plus cover art from punk-icon-in-his-own-right Raymond Pettibon). But this is distinctly an Iggy Pop record, indeed his twentieth studio album, from one of the greats.