Punk music lost one of its most original voices yesterday when Marianne Elliott-Said, better known as Poly Styrene, the singer for the band X-Ray Spex, succumbed to cancer at age 53, one day before the American release of her first full length solo album in 30 years, Generation Indigo. X-Ray Spex shared the concerns of the other punk bands at the time, ruminating on themes of injustice and rebellion between the occasional song about teen hormones, but more so than their peers they also offered a running commentary on punk itself, making the case for the genre's individualism through songs like "Identity" and "I Am a Poser." With her big voice, ebullient stage presence and iconic fashion sense (she favored a bright and sexy go-go-girl-gone-bad look), Styrene was one of the prime inspirations for the early-'90s riot grrrl movement. What strikes the most about Generation Indigo is how youthful Styrene sounds—after all these years, she somehow comes across as even younger than the singers she inspired. Over a blend of punk-reggae shuffles and modernized electro-pop, she's still singing about dumb crushes and eccentric fashion with the same huge grin on her face she's always had. Generation Indigo does real justice to her legacy, presenting Styrene as she should be remembered: irrepressible and ageless.
Also out this week:
Airborne Toxic Event - All At Once
Antony And The Johnsons - Swanlights (EP)
Bootsy Collins - The Funk Capitol of the World
Cass McCombs - Wit's End
Emmylou Harris - Hard Bargin
Explosions In The Sky - Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Girl Names - Dead To Me
Holly Golightly And The Brokeoffs - No Help Coming
Julian Lynch - Terra
Of Montreal - Thecontrollersphere
Prefuse 73 - The Only She Chapters
Steve Earle - I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive
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Thao & Mirah - Thao & Mirah
Times New Viking - Dancer Equired
