Iggy Pop: Skull Ring

On The Modern Lovers' classic debut album, Jonathan Richman, the progenitor of geek rock and other styles, sings a song called "Dignified And Old," which invites listeners to forget about their problems because one day they'll be, as the title suggests, dignified and old. Iggy Pop, the progenitor of punk rock and other styles, begs to differ. At 56, Pop is only old by rock standards, but he's undignified by any standards, and he wouldn't have it any other way. (Otherwise, he probably wouldn't use the word "titty" quite so freely.) Sure, he looks ridiculous re-creating the cover of Raw Power in the CD booklet to the new Skull Ring, but it's a cool kind of ridiculous–not really good, but kind of admirable anyway. So's the album. Given the chance to rock out like he did before, Pop goes for it, and while the results aren't classic, they're at least presented in a classic style. The big news here is that Pop reunites The Stooges for four of Skull Ring's 16 songs, and the result is more or less as might be expected: like The Stooges, only older, with the sound intact but the edges shaved off. That same description fits The Trolls, Pop's backing band on Skull Ring when he's not leading Ron and Scott Asheton, or going the Santana route and teaming with Green Day, Sum 41, or Peaches. All but Peaches, who brings some tinny beats with her, bend to Pop's sound. That's probably just as well, given that listening to Pop imitate bands that grew up imitating bands that grew up imitating Pop might create some kind of rock-geek black hole from which no music could escape. But there's no denying the genuine sparks between Pop and Peaches on their two duets, or the fact that the album could use a few more screwball pitches. It could also use more material like "Til Wrong Feels Right," a music-industry-savaging blues number: Unaccompanied and singing from the heart, Pop sounds dignified, and not nearly as old as when he tries to sound young.