John Doe may have the propensity to spew venom and talk tough, but beneath that menacing veneer beats the soul of an American original. A reviewer once likened him to Clint Eastwood, with a squinty-eyed perspective and twitchy song style that never takes kindly to those who cross him. For The Rest Of Us, an expanded reissue of Doe’s debut EP, frames that stealthy persona in the sharpest terms possible. Still possessed of the brooding temperament that defined X, the seminal L.A. punk outfit he helped nurture, it finds Doe skidding from anger to anguish with urgency and intensity. The skittish nature of the set -- from its unsettling intro, the aptly-dubbed “A Step Outside,� through to the angst-induced co-write with Dave Grohl, “This Loving Thing� and the album capper, a tumultuous cover of Woody Guthrie’s “Vigilante Man� (a precursor to Doe’s eventual excursion into Americana) -- reflects a tension so palpable it practically oozes from the grooves. If For The Rest… isn’t his best (only because his later albums also vie for that distinction), it is, at very least, definitive Doe.
Lee Zimmerman
Release date: July 25, 2006
