Glen Matlock has proven himself by coming a long way from his stint with the Sex Pistols. But he’s more than just a Pistol. He has played on the Iggy Pop album Soldier, Rich Kids, The Damned, his own band The Philistines, and the International Swingers. We all know that history hasn’t been kind to Matlock, but its time to give him the proper recognition he deserves.
Consequences Coming finally sees Matlock, spreading his wings, flying across the heavens, and be one of the better songwriters in a blaze of glory. With the who’s who from Bowie alumni Earl Slick, Blondie’s Clem Burke, Norman Watt-Roy (The Greatest Show on Earth, Ian Dury and the Blockheads), and Neal X from Sigue Sigue Sputnik, they’re more than just musicians, but a band of brothers to lend Glen a helping hand.
The themes behind his new album details Glen’s view on the disgust of world politics. If you think Roger Waters is the angriest, Matlock takes it a step further by bringing in a shitload of heavy ammunition and machine gun fire. He becomes more like Rambo’s bodyguard, but with a heavier attitude.
The ‘70s glam rock approach of ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ (no, not the Steppenwolf song) is a nod to T. Rex’s ‘Metal Guru’ from The Slider. Glen puts on Marc’s unique leather hat and goes into a time machine where the glam scene was rising.
‘Speaking in Tongues’ is cow bells galore! Slick plays like a madman as Neal comes in to give those bluesy riffs by sliding up and down the sequences to watch those politicians act all crazy on the flat-screen TV. But its ‘Constant Craving’ that sees Matlock paying tribute to Bowie’s Heathen-era.
It almost sounds like a sequel to ‘Afraid’ where Matlock puts up a project of the Madmen, locked up in this loony bin who has gone off the rails and nowhere near being cured. But there are moments where it resembles Mexican garage rock band Los Chijuas, and the song ‘Changing the Colors of Life’. Not bad Glen, not bad at all.
The nod between ‘50s doo-wop and Patsy Cline’s ‘She’s Got You’ with ‘Tried to Tell You’ shows Glen’s appreciation of the genre while ‘Head on a Stick’ moves into the Travelling Wilburys lyrical textures with a foot-stomping chorus that speaks of a pub-rock attitude with amazing arrangements. Glen Matlock has proven himself by moving forwards and never looking back. He has been playing music for 50 years whilst keeping his train chugging with more Consequences Coming.
And the flaming fires just got bigger!
