Bush League

Bush/Gavin Rossdale

M.J. Fine does it again

Gavin Rossdale may be approaching 43 and nesting with Gwen Stefani and their growing family, but he hasn't lost his taste for melodrama. On Wanderlust, his first solo album, he sweeps his house on the hill for substantial threats and finds only domestic warfare and emotional scars. The terror's all in his head and the angst's all in his voice. (It sure isn't in the genial guitars.) "If You're Not with Us You Are Against Us" and "Future World" turn political bluster into marital pandering. "Forever May You Run" treads as lightly as a sleep-deprived dad who's just put the baby down, until the singer gets cranky with a misplaced dig at authority: "The president's in bed/ They're trying to find the king/ Buddha, he was busy/ Jesus wasn't in." Rossdale's rage at a slumbering president is rich, considering he's responsible for an inactive Bush of his own.

Bush Sixteen Stone (Trauma/Interscope 1994)

Gavin Rossdale Wanderlust (Interscope 2008)

When Sixteen Stone came out eight months after grunge died in Kurt Cobain's greenhouse, Bush was written off as a Nirvana knockoff, poseurs, pretty boys and Neanderthals. Their fellow Britons were too sharp to fall for them, but 5 million Americans bought the CD within 19 months of its release. (Not that any would admit it.) Over distorted guitars and crisp drums, Rossdale howled howlers like "Temple is you/ My brow is insane," "Sucking your tantric suck/ Fooling your one-eyed cat" and "I touch your mouth/ My willy is food." Um.

And, oh, it's half great. Five of its tracks lodged in the top five of Billboard's Modern Rock chart, and though they're not the most original post-grunge tunes, they're among the most memorable. You can't deny the primal attraction of "Everything Zen" or the string-laden regret of the gorgeous "Glycerine." And Rossdale personifies paranoia and agitation in "Comedown," "Machinehead" and "Little Things." He's a lazy lyricist; still, he gets his point across. He's fond of non-sequiturs and dumb sex puns, but also pulls off an incisive and heartbreaking line like "I needed you more when we wanted us less."

Best Bush of the last two decades? Kate's brilliant, but it doesn't take a genius to rule.

(m_fine@citypaper.net)

You could listen to Gavin Rossdale's new songs at gavinrossdale.com, but wouldn't you rather trawl gossip sites for photos of his new baby?