L is for Mark Lanegan and Ladytron

By Matthew

Mark Lanegan

eems like most big rock personalities from the early 90’s haven’t made it to today with their lives or artistic integrity intact. Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Shannon Hoon, Chris Cornell, Billy Corgan, Dave Grohl, and Scott Weiland are all either dead to the world or dead to me.

That’s one reason why Mark Lanegan is so damned impressive.

Here’s a guy with the same sad back-story of broken families and drug abuse that so many musicians use to propel their creativity, but he hasn’t become a casualty. Since I don’t know the guy personally, my romantic hope is that the difference between Lanegan and his peers is that he found true solace in music and its ability to heal. But regardless of the catalyst, the product is an artist that has made some amazing things in the past and present. Lanegan is still vital and his range makes his appeal broad. From his solo work (Bubblegum is one of my favorites and gives me chills every time) to his collaboration with Queens of the Stone Age, to his more intimate albums with Belle & Sebastian’s Isobel Campbell – the guy has it going on.

When I was training a few years ago, I would hear the post-punk aggressive anthem “Hanging Tree” in my head while working a bag or a guy’s face, and could then come home and cool down with “Whiskey from the Holy Ghost.” I started to realize how little I was interested in other current releases from former heavyweights like Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, etc. and how much I looked forward to the next Lanegan effort.

When my wife and I were living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Lanegan was recording parts of Bubblegum in Mebane, and there were whispers of him haunting local music venues. Makes the album a little more special and I still wish I had run into him around town… but who knows? The guy maintains such a humble, low profile, I might have passed him on the street and never known any better… what a cool dude.

Ladytron

I don’t like their malaise, I don’t like their haircuts, I don’t like the way they dress, I don’t like the fact that despite all their downer facade, they’re probably more happy and wealthy than I’ll ever be, but gosh darn it, I love ‘Playgirl’. I just can’t get enough of this song. Few other tracks have moved as much adrenaline into my system during a morning run. Maybe it’s a weakness for what was the New New Wave, maybe it’s the unexpected jump to the 5th tone in the scale during the chorus’ second “Hey Play Girl!”, or maybe I just like a solid 4x4 dancing beat, but this song gets me pumped. My wife’s got the song on her short list of tracks to play when her roller derby team takes the rink at a future bout… Heaven!