The Glass Eye
Frank Esposito; Jan 29, 2005
The politics that New Jersey rocker Matt Angus is tackling here aren’t always the Washington kind. He’s skilled at mapping the politics between two people in a variety of settings. Plus, Angus has the wordplay, the hooks and the emotive voice to make it all work. But don’t think for a minute he shies away from the more filthy kind of politics. Angus ran for US Congress as an independent this fall. He got less than one percent of the vote in District 7, where Republican Mike Ferguson won re-election with 57 percent support. Still, Angus tossed his hat into the ring.
His political leanings are most evident on “President’s Son,” a comical flogging of George W. Bush done up in a country style. Angus’ aim is deadly – “Now I don’t have to work hard, I don’t have to care / Cause no matter what I do I’m gonna make it there / My pa will always finish what I’d begun,” he sings, voice dripping with sarcasm and dislike. Angus’ swell cover of Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” also is chock full of working-class gusto.
It’s tough walking this kind of line. A lot of times, political polemics invade the music so much that the music starts to suck and the singer becomes self-important. Angus never lets that happen, and that’s a tribute to his skill.