Johnny Marr

The Messenger (Sire)

Johnny Marr’s previous solo showing was 2003’s flat arena-rock experiment, Boomslang. For The Messenger, the ex-Smiths axe genius returns to the guitar pop of his youth. Marr chimes, jangles, strums, and crunches, using whatever tricks best serve the song. Not that The Messenger trucks in nostalgia, mind you. His vision turns on fuller arrangements and tighter melodies than his old band allowed. Whether it’s the lush groove and 12-string jangle of the title track, the stop-start chink and twanging riff of “The Crack Up,” or the widescreen pop licks powering “The Right Thing Right,” Marr caresses each track with just the right touch and that includes his mellifluous voice. The Messenger rediscovers what made the Smiths’ albums great – an open-minded approach to tone and a feel that colors tunes for miles. (Friday, 4:15pm, Orange stage)

***.5

This article appears in November 8 • 2013.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.