FOKUS MUSIK Review of New William Carlos Whitten Album ROCK MUSIC IS THE COLOR OF BLACK HAIR

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As the leader of St. Johnny until the mid-90s and then Grand Mal for another 15 years, there were still conventional rock'n'roll traits in Bill Whitten. He knew his New York Dolls and his Mott the Hoople, he knew how to stand out in the New York trash glam scene. But at the same time, he was whimsical and often seriously self-deprecating, and the signs that there was an odd personality behind it were many and increasingly obvious.

Nowadays he calls himself William Carlos Whitten, and all traces of ordinary rock'n'roll ambition are gone. Johnny Thunder's mother does appear in an aside, and the roots of the music are firmly anchored in New York's alternative rock, with the Velvet Underground as a fixed star. But with home recordings using mostly just a vintage drum machine, an equally old synth and an electric guitar with a dist pedal, something else emerges in Bill Whitten's music. Especially as his songs are characterized by an overly clear, dry, witty humor, often of a meta nature about rock mythology. The title track is some kind of rudimentary glam rock, digging deep into religious mythology and Bill Whitten's pet peeves to make its point, and Abolish the Internet is a call for a long-haired rock'n'roll band with a fuck-you attitude (“no chick singers”),

Rock Music in Ruins is a restrained Suicide travesty, and even more unnerving is guest Diana Crash, who laconically offers more than 40 options on the theme Shortly Before His Death (“he returned to the church/he became an atheist/his politics became radical/his politics become reactionary/he said I'm not a man - I'm a metaphor”). With this kind of clever and highly entertaining version of rock music, Bill Whitten is in the same club as brilliant British eccentrics like Luke Haines or, above all, Lawrence (Go-Kart Mozart).

It's good company, indeed, and there's reason to tip our hats to the Swedish label Groover for daring to release what others won't.