The video for Mark Lanegan Band’s “Stitch It Up,” off Somebody’s Knocking features Jimmy the Cab Driver. Jimmy, played by Donal Logue (before he was famous), was an MTV fixture in the 1990s, performing meandering monologues about the various bands showcased by the music network. One of those MTV-anointed bands was Lanegan’s Screaming Trees, which was caught in the massive grunge fishing net, as much for their Washington state roots as for their sound, which shimmered more than your typical detuned Seattle band.
The presence of Jimmy is a humorous nod to Lanegan’s past and one that he’s probably comfortable making because his career has progressed so much since Screaming Trees broke up. He’s had powerful solo albums, he’s worked with Queens of the Stone Age and he’s gradually immersed himself in electronic music. Somebody’s Knocking could be a lost 1980s New Wave album. A really good one.
Lanegan grew up a New Order and Depeche Mode fan, but was taken in different directions by Screaming Trees. I fell in love with Lanegan after 1999’s I’ll Take Care of You, a quietly intense cover album that left plenty of space for his voice. From there, Lanegan moved into increasingly atmospheric and electronic directions, both with his solo work and with his collaborations, such as with the Soulsavers. Even 2013’s Imitations, another cover album, while often featuring Lanegan in more of a roots-rock setting, featured a cover of Nick Cave and the Bad Seed’s “Brompton Oratory” that was positively gothic.
So it’s tough to call Somebody’s Knocking the culmination of anything with Lanegan. It’s a direction he’s been steadily working toward for years. What’s impressive about the album is that while the mode of delivery is electronic, there’s a live heartbeat beneath all of the songs that consistently reveals Lanegan’s humanity.
A song like “Gazing from the Shore” checks all of the New Wave boxes. The Peter Hook-approved bassline that feels like BBs shooting out of the song. The electronic drums working mechanically in the background, like driving past a construction site with the car windows rolled up. And the waves of keyboards and guitar all mixed together, almost impossible to separate. Yet Lanegan’s voice is unprocessed, crying out, “Don’t leave me standing here / Just gazing on the shore.” There is a rock and roll swagger to the delivery, but also a rock and roll delight. Lanegan knows New Wave, but he hasn’t necessarily internalized the mopiness, and it makes a world of difference in making the song accessible to rock fans.
Lanegan rocks and rolls across the album. “Disbelief Suspension” sounds like Big Black. Despite the saxophone doubling the rhythm, there’s something thin about the track. But Lanegan’s snarl, while processed, feels real. While the track might only exist electronically, with the instruments possibly never played outside of a computer screen, Lanegan’s voice is three dimensional. You can feel it trying to escape its digital prison. Like Jeff Bridges in Tron.
Somebody’s Knocking will appeal to fans of electronic music, but Lanegan/Screaming Tree fans, who haven’t kept up with him, might be intrigued by where his music now resides. It’s interesting when artists evolve and even more interesting when they do it slowly, across albums, in a public manner. Lanegan is thoughtfully and deliberately following his passion and reconnecting with the music he loved as a younger person. And that love is apparent across the album.
