He’s baaaaack! Nearly two decades have passed and the scars had almost healed when who should return to us like a reanimated New Romantic zombie but Adam Ant, the guy in the admiral’s jacket who gave us “Antmusic,” “Ant Rap,” and other songs of its anty ilk. Remember “Goody Two Shoes?” Of course you do. “Don’t drink/ Don’t smoke/ What do you do”? My answer, and I think it was the correct one, was always run like hell from wherever Ant’s voice was coming from.
But there are undoubtedly still Ant People out there who are overjoyed to have Ant back, and to them I bring glad tidings; not only has Ant released a new album, Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter, but his Adam Ant & the Good, the Mad & the Lovely Posse Tour is making a stop at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, August 13.
The bizarrely attired Mr. Ant—who remains a sartorial outrage, although nowadays he looks more than a bit like Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow–was The Face in the early ’80s UK, what with his screwy percussion, catchy horn charts, and sing-song, almost childish melodies. He and his fellow Ants even won a Brit Award for Best British Album in 1982, discrediting that organization forever. But the hits stopped coming, and in 1995 Ant released what seemed his final album, Wonderful, to take up acting. But alas, as some guy named Springsteen once sang, “Well now, everything dies, baby, that’s a fact/ But maybe everything that dies someday comes back,” and with Adam Ant we see hard proof of “The Boss Prinzip.”
The shocking thing? Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter isn’t half bad. It’s isn’t half good either, but it has some songs on it that are bona fide keepers and leagues above anything Ant recorded during his Glory Days. Discount the ill-chosen and inane “Who’s a Goofy Bunny?,” the creepy perv-wank that is “Punkyoungirl” (sample line: “Lift up your skirt/ Let me lick your alphabet”) and a few others, and what’s left are a handful of songs (including “Cool Zombie,” “Shrink,” “Vivienne’s Tears,” “Bullshit,” and both versions of “How Can I Say I Miss You?”) that demonstrate Adam Ant has abandoned some of the screwball elements of his old style, kept up with what’s happening in music, and actually honed his chops and improved his songwriting (although his lyrics still tend to suck). The result is a more mature Ant, and one I would no longer step on if I saw it making its sluggish way across the sidewalk.
And lucky you, it just so happens we’re giving away two tickets to Ant’s August 13 concert at the 9:30 Club. So how can you get your penny-pinching Ant pincers on them? Just send $5 to me at—just kidding.
In the comments below, simply name the Adam Ant song that you’d most want to hear at the show, and why—briefly! One well-attuned winner will be chosen on Monday, 8/12. Tickets are still available.
