Gung Ho

Sound DNA

• Rock

About

Patti Smith has compared 2000’s <i>Gung Ho</i>—the singer’s eighth album—to her landmark 1978 hit, <i>Easter</i>. Both albums were the result of a tight, highly focused musical connection between Smith and her bandmates. “We’ve struggled together, we’ve toured together,” she told Charlie Rose shortly after <i>Gung Ho</i>’s release. It’s not that Smith and the band are on any kind of autopilot on <i>Gung Ho</i>. But they’ve definitely settled into a firm groove. And many of the musicians on this album have long been part of Smith’s orbit. Guitarist Lenny Kaye’s songwriting is all over “Lo and Beholden,” which brings in reggae and Arab influences, while drummer Jay Dee Daugherty co-wrote “One Voice.” There are also contributions from such Smith collaborators as Tony Shanahan and Oliver Ray, while both guitarist Tom Verlaine and Michael Stipe—the latter of whom recruited Smith for R.E.M.’s single “E-Bow the Letter”—show up on the Grammy-nominated “Glitter in Their Eyes.” The arrangements on <i>Gung Ho</i> are lighter and full of strategic flourishes, like the little Farfisa organ riff on “Persuasion,” the echo on Smith’s vocals on the chorus of “Glitter in Their Eyes,” or the helicopters in the title track. Gil Norton, famous for his work with the Pixies, produced the album, and he brings a more modern tone, as well as more context, to the guitars. Elsewhere on <i>Gung Ho</i>, “Grateful” is a song for the Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia, notable because Smith wrote both the music and the lyrics. “Persuasion,” meanwhile, was crafted from an unfinished song by her late husband, Fred “Sonic” Smith, and features an appearance by Grant Hart of Hüsker Dü fame. The album concludes with a grand improvisational moment, “Gung Ho,” a nearly 12-minute jam about the life of Ho Chi Minh, full of tension, chaos, and beautifully resonant guitars.

via Apple Music

Tracklist

Credits