THE CD: “Pearl Jam”
PERFORMER: Pearl Jam (Monkeywrench/J. Records)
WEBSITES: here and here
LISTEN: here
YOU’LL LIKE IT IF YOU LIKE: Hard-charging, insightful rock with no cheese on top.

So you think you’ve heard everything Pearl Jam has to offer on their seven previous studio efforts? Fans, you would be right…they do still rock. On their eponymously titled new one (frontman Edward Vedder said a title would have been “pretentious”…okay), the band that has nothing to prove, and no world left to conquer, reaches down and comes up with an effort that is no doubt better than 2002’s “Riot Act” and probably THE definitive Pearl Jam CD!! [You are only allowed one exclamation point per post. Preferably none– ed.]

The first single, “World Wide Suicide,” has already reached the top slot on Billboard’s Modern Rock charts. You’re still standing there with your arms crossed because you are a cynic?? OK. You watch the news? Well, it may be tough to get into one of your all-time favorite bands when nucya-lur apocalypse is as as certain as a worthless dollar. Vedder feels the same, screaming on “Suicide”: “What does it mean when a war has taken over?” You’re back on board? Good. Now you’re ready to rock to “Life Wasted” and “Comatose,” which sound to me like they could’ve fit on most PJ records.

“Marker In the Sand” is one of the best songs on the CD. It sounds like the band (Vedder, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, Matt Cameron) has found a nice middle ground, musically speaking, between their rockin’ side (verses) and their soft side (chorus). Vedder sings on the soft-strumming choruses: “What went wrong/walking tightrope high/over moral ground/walk the bridges/before you burn them down.” All this in a land which sees “both sides claiming killing in god’s name,” and “god is nowhere to be found.” Vedder breaks down, singing “god what do you say?” over the end of the song. This is classic Pearl Jam: chorus/reverb effects giving the guitars an oceanic quality, Vedder’s vocal range, the tempo changes, the rock. The outro picks up the tempo, ending things on a high note with cool organ riffage.

“Big Wave” is one of my personal faves off the CD, a punk version of Pearl Jam that is on display in their music only slightly. Pearl Jam fans like the band as much for their music (which takes on a jam band quality live, with extended solos) as Vedder’s vocals and words (from the personal to the political). The political side is on display in “Army Reserve,” written from the perspective of a wife who “tells herself and everyone else father is risking his life for our freedoms” and then sees “lightning in my child’s eye.” Wow. The personal is on display in the song “Come Back.” Vedder sings “Since you slipped away/know that I still remain true. . . From wherever you are/come back.”

I support the band not because they’re big time rock stars (which we need) but because they’ve used their stardom to support worthy causes, like taking on Ticketmaster, apathy, bad public policy, and yes, even Satan. I like them because they didn’t kill themselves.

The band is touring worldwide, then coming stateside for a string of gigs with Louisville-Kentucky’s own My Morning Jacket. Who said Ky. was just good for lazy American workers? I kid. I kid.

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