Editorial Reviews
Mojave
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After venting some severely pent-up spleen on their 2002 reunion album, L.A.'s Concrete Blonde wander into the parched desert outback that surrounds their hometown for inspiration. But the fiercely independent spirit that's been the trio's evocative creative muse (yielding unlikely hits like "God is a Bullet" and "Joey)" leads them down some challenging gulches here. Kicking off with bows to electro-charged modern rock ("The A Road" and "Because I Can") whose arroyo-of-noise often blunts the band's twin trademarks--the ever-underrated vocal dramatics of Johnnete Napolitano and guitarist Jim Mankey's lean, haunting fretwork--they regain their footing somewhat on a slow, dreamy take on the Western chestnut "Ghost Riders in the Sky," then careen headlong into preachy eco-consciousness ("Coyote") and the title track's meandering, spoken-word indulgences. The wry wit and restless, dark energy that fuels the album's closing third is a welcome return to focused form, even if it underscores its unintended desert metaphor and moral: The vast Mojave has inspired much aimless wandering, yet few dare call it home. --Jerry McCulley
Vanity Fair, June 2004.
"The fabulous Johnette Napolitano is back with the scenic "Mojave" from a reunited, revitalized Concrete Blonde."
Album Description
Concrete Blonde’s newest album "Mojave" provides a musical postcard from the edge of civilization, where lonely strips of asphalt wind their way through the coyote’s backyard. Now the denizens of the desert that gave the album its name, singer/bassist Johnette Napolitano, guitarist Jim Mankey and drummer Gabriel Ramirez, provide a soundtrack to the scenic Southwest. The desert’s strange beauty is reflected throughout "Mojave", from the shadowy, bass-driven opening track "A Road" to the sprawling soundscapes and ghostly vocals of "My Tornado At Rest." Spirit animals come crawling out of the arid night, with reptiles shedding skin in "Snakes" and Johnette explaining the mysterious desert dogs on "Hey Coyote." The specter-like quality of the desert’s night sky is also captured in a haunting cover of "(Ghost) Riders In The Sky," the old Western chestnut re-popularized by Southern rockers The Outlaws in the early ‘80s