“Talking heads are talking/but listen to what they say/How they sit in judgment/and claim to know the way.� So begins “Riddles,� the lead-off track on Joan Jett's first album of all new material in a decade. If you think she's talking about David Byrne, guess again. Plainly a political statement, yet with hooks to spare and a killer melodic guitar riff at its center, “Riddles� encapsulates everything great about Jett. Amazingly, Sinner's release marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of Blackheart Records, and its no frills pop-rock sound and youthful exuberance bookends Bad Reputation, Joan's solo debut perfectly. For any other artist with such longevity, that might be something of a mixed bag, but Jett's career has always been about simplicity, and her perseverance and lack of pretense, as well as refusal to glom onto the latest trend elevates her consistently high quality work to another level. Lyrically, Sinner pulls no punches, whether lambasting the Bush administration, dissing the tabloids (“Five,� with its cool sitar intro), or getting frank about sexuality (“A.C.D.C.� and “Fetish�). When the volume drops for more introspective moments – such as “Naked,� or Jett's swinging take on the Replacements' prescient “Androgynous� – the energy never flags. Sinner is a triumphant and welcome return.
Larry O. Dean
Release date: June 13, 2006
