They say you can’t teach an old punk new tricks, and while this is absolutely true in the case of grizzled rock veteran Martin Corrigan, it hasn’t stopped him being at the forefront of some incendiary music.
Whether it was with the angular electronics of Skymas or Alloy Mental, the shattered rock moves of Corrigan, the alt-country landscapes of John Edgar Voe, or the snotty punk moves of The Skinflints, Martin Corrigan’s shrill bark has been right at the core of all of them. And for someone who isn’t a…tuneful…singer, in the traditional sense of the word, Corrigan gets by on something we like to call ‘presence’.
With a smouldering cauldron of deep, growling bass, and a hip-shaking rhythm, ‘Oh Desire’ is another opportunity for Corrigan to unleash his ‘unhinged preacher’ persona, bellowing about carnal delight. “When we kiss, world’s collide,” he states, offering a very glowing performance review of his own abilities as a kisser.
The whole thing is glued together by some great guitar work, with big riffs in the choruses, and a scratchy, funky solo that you could fry an egg on. With shades of the Jesus Lizard and Queens of the Stone Age, this isn’t anything radically different or new, but yet again it proves that if something’s good, then it doesn’t necessarily matter. And this is very, very good.
You might not be able to teach this old punk new tricks, but ‘Oh Desire’ shows us that you don’t need to.
