Johnny Marr – KCRW Sessions Review

Johnny Marr is a force of rock to be reckoned with. Where his solo works may not be the greatest, his instrumental power has rarely faltered over the decades. Ahead of his debut solo album the great guitarist who has worked with the likes of Morrissey and Paul Weller took to the stage. Not to shake any perceived cobwebs off but to debut some material from an album which would spawn a new feel to the Marr sound and how we perceive the legendary instrumentalist. There is no escaping the shadow of his talented past though and The Smiths covers feel inevitable for any of his sets. That is part of the charm in this KCRW Sessions performance – a piece where the back-and-forth of these new upstarts and the old classics fall in line with one another rather remarkably.  

His sound for these new songs, or at least at the time fresh materials, is of a quality similar to The Jam. Instrumentally charged pieces with a momentum heavily reliant on that instrumental charm. Upstarts is a great bit of fun, with The Messenger track still a joy to listen to now as it was when it was first released. A swinging guitar rock, one which has a broader range to it than The Smiths or other, former endeavours would have allowed for can be heard. In it lies the core of why many feel Marr is an essential solo musician, a fiery instrumental display is always at the centre of these efforts. Even when adapting old materials like How Soon is Now, Marr finds himself dispensing a slight change which evolves the song. His vocal performance is a bold one, a chance to challenge the already-known experience of the classic track. 

KCRW Sessions provides a few examples of this gutsy display, and Marr is more than up to the challenge of adapting these songs. With such a unique vocal style at their core, it is always a risk to take on the greats but Marr was there from the start of it and knows how to distort the work and prevent it from going stale. Such is the point of his instrumental charms earlier in the set with Lockdown and The Messenger both detailing some expectedly strong moments. Inventive guitar music with a creative edge to it – something Marr is rather consistent with in this period of his career. This would not have been possible without the effectiveness of The The, 7 Worlds Collide or The Healers. All of those experiences feel like a culmination of some instrumental excess, fine-tuned until a solo boom was unavoidable.  

Such is the case for the KCRW Sessions, a fine blur of his greatest hits and sharp instrumental style. It is a unique and recognisable style Marr has in his hands. Remove that and you have some relatively thin lyricisms with an innocuous set of musical additions. But the fact it is Marr adds a new layer for many listeners. His presence and understanding of the tempo in these songs are far greater than the results of his writing. The latter is nothing special and feels thoroughly interchangeable, but paired with the instrumental joys of one of the best indie-adjacent guitarists, it makes it worth listening to. Buried bootlegs like KCRW Sessions are a great example of what his studio releases or polished big gig presentations lack – the suddenness of a new endeavour and the spectacular change of pace it can bring.