Daniel Johnston - Is & Always Was

The ghosts that sell memories will not go away

Is & Always Was isn’t just a cute “I am what I am” title. Opener Mind Movies sees Johnston kick straight into his heavy acoustic thrash, singing to a love who has him “by the skull”, scaring him while he professes himself “a psycho trying to write a song”. Fake Movies Of Rock & Roll revisits his continual Beatles fascination with guitar licks nodding to his idols, while Johnston bemoans the nonsense that he hears passing for rock’n’roll today.

So, unrequited love and the Fab Four: the song remains the same, thematically and almost musically. With the recent Johnston reissues and a massive upsurge in press coverage over the years, it’s no surprise that Johnston’s sound is fleshed out for this highprofile release, here under the aegis of sometime Air, Beck and, yes, McCartney sideman Jason Faulkner. The overall listen is a bit like hearing Ben Folds backing William Shatner: a mainman who’ll never change his delivery, a “name” producer giving it a modern sheen. What Shatner gained in credibility, however, Johnston risks losing in smothering his fragility. The full-band swamp that reduces Johnston’s Lost In My Infinite Memory to a rock strut eschews the essence of what Johnston’s always been: a heart-rending songwriter plugged right in to the core of desperate emotion.

3 stars 3 stars 3 stars

Feraltone/Yip Eye Music | FERALCD 05

Reviewed by Jason Draper
<< Back to Issue 370

Login Here

Free Newsletter


Subscribe to
our email newsletter by emailing:

anna.bowen@
metropolis.co.uk