| Artist |
| Jay Brannan |
| Title |
| Goddamned |
| Format/Cat |
| n/a |
| Label |
| n/a |
| Style |
| folk/acoustic/ |
| Date of review |
| 19 October 2008 |
| Reviewer |
| Stuart Moses |
| Rating |
| 8/10 |
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Now gaining cult status as a singer songwriter, Jay Brannan has also gained cult status after being cast in a lead role in John Cameron Mitchell's 2006 cult comedy-drama Shortbus.
Goddamned is full of sensitive, wittily written songs, usually about heartbreak, failed relationships, but then swings to themes of society and celebrity. There's some good lines in here too, one being: 'You were the stalker I kinda wanted to have/ Being your half boyfriend was only half bad.'
And reality 'stars' get a good clip around the earhole on "American Idol": 'Am I suicidal, or am I hungry?/American Idol, get the hell off my TV.' The love fate of a man who now finds himself a star is also here too. Sample lyric: 'You like the guy on your iPod, not the guy in your bed/After the fanmail came anthrax, now you wish I were dead', which does raise a chuckle or two...
As does a ditty called "Housewife", which would probably have a few hard-core feminists up in arms - but hey, feminism was all about choice in the first place, so be it, chill out. A protest against censorship arises in "On All Fours" and here are some of the lines in their (censored) glory: "Nine out of 10 motherf*****s agree/That his f***ing foul language is a f***ing travesty/But motherf***king f*** is just another word." It's quite refreshing, a bit anarchic and there's a bit of truth there too. It's like chill-out music with a political sentiment – perfect for middle-aged punks and those who just can't go through with the whole hair-spiking thing anymore.
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