Nothing But A Body

The Smashing Pumpkins “Solara”

Billy Corgan’s output over the past decade or so has been split between the music he makes for himself – the personal stuff, the formally or conceptually experimental stuff – and the music that seems like him trying to give people what he thinks they want. Some of the music in the former category has been good, and some of the music in the latter category has been good too. But I think for the most part, a lot of it has been lackluster because the songs he wrote at his creative and commercial peak was all in the Venn diagram overlap of those two motivations. Some things are only meant for hardcore fans, and that’s fine, but it’s not very fun to listen to music by someone who seems to be half-heartedly aiming to please.

“Solara,” the first song he’s released with both Jimmy Chamberlain and James Iha in the band with him since 2000, falls in that perfect overlap. He sounds both genuinely fired up AND eager to please, and is more generous with hooks than he’s been in ages. “Solara” glides from hook to hook with supreme confidence, and every member of the band sounds like they want to prove that they can still bring it. I don’t think this is quite Siamese Dream level, but this is strong stuff, and probably what radio stations would’ve liked them to deliver circa 1997/1998 than their Adore material. It’s all oomph and momentum, and the key line – “I am nothing but a body in my mind” – brings a new sort of anxiety into the classic Corgan angst matrix. Hopefully this incarnation of the band can keep this focus, enthusiasm, and raw energy going for a while.

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