Morrissey - You Are The Quarry

Armed with a new label (Attack Records), a new producer (Jerry Finn of Blink 182 and Green Day fame), and, on the album cover, a Tommy gun, Morrissey immediately lines up his targets at the outset of You Are The Quarry. The sharp-witted Brit-pop icon takes shots at the United States and England, respectively, on the biting "America Is Not the World" and the bold "Irish Blood, English Heart." Unsurprisingly, the rest of the album doesn't shy away from frustration-fueled topics ("I Have Forgiven Jesus," "The World Is Full of Crashing Bores"), revealing that the former Smiths singer hasn't missed a step lyrically or vocally in the seven years since 1997's Maladjusted. Enhanced by the guitars of longtime collaborators Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer, the sound here is vintage Morrissey, though a few tracks bear the energetic influence of Quarry's punk-pop-inclined producer. Standout songs include the gorgeous, dreamy "I'm Not Sorry" and "First of the Gang to Die," a love letter to his unlikely Latino fan base in Los Angeles. While the record clearly marks a new phase for the beloved crooner, it also reminds listeners of why they grew to love him in the first place.(Let Me Kiss You ohoho)