Former
Sex Pistol vocalist John Lydon once again unleashed his
Public Image Ltd. project, this time with a more basic, unrelenting rock & roll attack than ever before. The audio assault of guitarist
John McGeoch and bassist Allan Dias perfectly complements Lydon's frenzied, strangled bleating throughout. As usual, Lydon succeeds in being all of satirical and fatalistic, confrontational and self-deprecating. The album's opening words set the tone: "What does it mean/What does anything mean." It's spat out as a statement rather than a question. "Covered" unpredictably tosses sampled vocals, bluesy harmonica, and
Tower of Power horns into the mix.
That What Is Not can be a difficult
PiL to swallow, but the heady side-effects make the effort worthwhile. ~ Roch Parisien