Retry "Ignore"

Morrissey: Vauxhall and I and Years of Refusal

by M.J. Fine

As chief consoler to the temporarily uncoupled, Morrissey has been making art out of disappointment and misunderstanding for more than 25 years, first with The Smiths and then — as he never tires of telling us — all by himself. His double-edged lyrics and dry delivery work so that normally well-adjusted boys and girls can identify with his self-pity when they're down and laugh at his dramatic liberties when they're done moping.

It's 21 years, to the month, since Morrissey went his own way with Viva Hate, and he's still singing the same old tune with a few stylistic updates. On Years of Refusal, his ninth solo outing, his voice is remarkably strong — sometimes solid, sometimes fluttery, depending what the song calls for — and it's only enhanced by ruthless guitars, manic drums and the occasional mariachi trumpet. At best, he comes off moody ("Black Cloud") and petulant ("All You Need Is Me"), but too often, he's just miserable ("Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed") and maudlin ("You Were Good in Your Time").

For all Morrissey's proclamations of his utter aloneness, he's had several fruitful partnerships with guitarists over the years. His five-year run with Johnny Marr produced four Smiths albums and twice as many singles compilations; Alain Whyte's written more than half of Morrissey's singles since he joined the singer's circle in 1991. And then there's Boz Boorer, who co-wrote four of the five best songs on Years of Refusal and none of its duds.

Boorer's efforts also elevate Vauxhall and I, which hit the U.S. in 1993 as an antisocial associate of Britpop. He brings an air of resignation for Morrissey's aching, arch accounts of being passed by on "Now My Heart Is Full" and "Spring-Heeled Jim," and he ratchets up the tension on the whispery "Lifeguard Sleeping, Girl Drowning," with its all-too-literal equation of inattention and death. But the most accessible track is still "The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get," with its circular riff and love-hate lyrics. The music may sound sweet, but Morrissey drops the passive-aggressive act in favor of telling it plain: "Beware/ I bear more grudges/ than lonely high court judges." After all this time, it's no surprise that the bitterest taste is the one that lingers.

(m_fine@citypaper.net)

Get closer to Morrissey on Sun., March 22, at the Academy of Music.