Review-Jonathan Richman “A Penchant for the Stagnant” Blue Arrow Records (2018)

     In 1986, Upside Records released a new album optimistically entitled “It’s Time For Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers.” It wasn’t. Like Jonathan’s entire career, this record seems to exist outside of time. Someone hearing it now for the first time might reasonably believe this was a product of the late 1950’s. In the relaxed and beautiful “Just About Seventeen,” Jonathan made his embrace of permanent adolescence explicit: “When I hear he’s getting older it sounds so strange, I wake up and I know that I haven’t changed.”  The thing is, he knew full well this was just wishful thinking. The next 30 years would see him sing of marriage and divorce, of fatherhood and great painters, of the death of his mother and the budding of a new relationship. There has been the occasional movie appearance, annual tours that take him around the world, and genuine affection from the fans lucky enough to know about him. But there has been little radio play, nothing like a hit record, and perhaps most strangely of all, hardly any recognition. The founding father of American punk rock, new wave and emo has never been considered for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The man who wrote “Roadrunner” and “Pablo Picasso” and “Everyday Clothes” and “Give Paris One More Chance” and a hundred others has rarely been acknowledged for his songwriting. Nor will you find him on any list of great guitar players, though if you have ever seen him perform you have likely been astonished by the tones and feelings he coaxes from his battered acoustic. Jonathan is probably okay with this lack of recognition but the rest of us should not be.

       Recent years have seen Jonathan receive some excellent support from his new label, Blue Arrow Records, based in Cleveland. I caught his recent tour stop in Asheville, N.C., and was delighted to see a well-stocked merchandise table featuring a selection of his new recordings. His 2016 release, “Ishkode! Ishkode!” is wonderful, well produced and featuring minimal but welcome accompaniment from longtime drummer Tommy Larkin and a number of named but uncredited friends. Jonathan has long included musical references from around the world and does not hesitate to sing in Italian or Spanish or French as the mood strikes him. Certain cuts on “Ishkode” featured a decided Indian influence, particularly drone enhancements on “But Then Ego Went Away” and “Mother I Give You My Soul Call” that suggested an entirely new direction.

       The most exciting development for longtime fans is that Jonathan’s new single features acompaniment on the mellotron from Jerry Harrison. Their relationship goes back to at least 1971 when Jerry provided critical support on the organ to Jonathan’s tales of teenage angst and suburban yearning during the short-lived reign of The Modern Lovers. The hard edged yet empathetic rock of the Lovers was so far ahead of its time that it wasn’t even released until years after its recording. By then Jonathan had moved on musically and Jerry had proved to be the missing piece that Talking Heads needed to achieve legendary status. Jerry has been focused on the production end of the music business for many years now instead of recording. It’s hard to pinpoint the last time the two played together, until Jerry blew everyone’s mind by joining Jonathan onstage in San Francisco in December of 2017. Turns out that Jerry had joined Jonathan and Tommy in the studio and they had completed several numbers to be featured on Jonathan’s new full length, “S.A.” “Penchant for the Stagnant” is the first cut to be released, and it is awesome.

         The first impression is the drone, distinctly Indian but also sounding like low end fuzz on a Fender. Nicole Montalbano is credited with the Tambora and also with marrying Jonathan around 2002. A propulsive tom tom beat drives the number until a slashing acoustic guitar emerges. Jonathan is insistent as he chants; “Don’t we have a penchant, a penchant for the stagnant and a tendency to stay the same.” About midway through the mellotron begins to unify the sound and they hurtle to the finish with Jonathan warning “stagnant, stagnant, stagnancy.” All in all the effect is quite beautiful and is perhaps the closest Jonathan has come to directly evoking the sound of the Velvet Underground since Roadrunner.

     Lou Reed, Jonathan’s first mentor, is gone, as are Sterling Morrison and Andy Warhol and David Bowie. Music has splintered into a thousand directions and a million artists all vying to be heard above the cacophony, but Rock and Roll has been whittled down to 100 songs endless replayed on classic stations and the only popular movies are based on comic book characters we already know. Yes we have a penchant, a penchant for the stagnant, and Jonathan is calling us out. His fans know better than to expect him to play any of his old stuff, just as we dream of having the Lovers reunite and hear him count off one two three four five SIX. The thing is that Jonathan is no longer that person and is unable to pretend that he is. He has always valued sincerity above almost any other quality and that is one reason why his musical progressions have frequently puzzled those who expected him to remain familiar. His path has led him to this moment where just before his 67^th birthday he can record a piece of music as stunning as “Penchant for the Stagnant,” and have it virtually ignored by the world.  But somewhere in the world a sixteen year old kid will hear this song and learn that it is always time for Jonathan Richman.

You can hear "Penchant For the Stagnant"  HERE