IT’S almost too perfect that a guy named John Doe should become familiar as an edgy everyman in films such as “Great Balls of Fire!” and “Boogie Nights,” as well as TV’s “Roswell” and “Law & Order.” Having notched several decades of solid acting success, he might justifiably feel tempted to forsake the iffier career path he’s pursued with his first love: music.
Instead, 30 years after the formation of his justly legendary punk band X, John Doe carries the same sort of musical authority and tough-but-tender charisma that Johnny Cash possessed in his prime. New Yorkers may confirm this claim when Doe takes the stage at Joe’s Pub on Tuesday night.
From 1977, when X first hit L.A.’s volatile punk scene, Doe and the band stood out. Their music, as harrowingly intense as that of their wildest peers, remained rooted in early rock ‘n’ roll, with Doe and singer Exene Cervenka keening their urban-noir songs of frustration and survival like a feral George Jones and Tammy Wynette.
After X and its folk-redux offshoot, the Knitters, Doe’s devotion to boilerplate American song continued through a series of solo albums, the first five released on as many different labels. In Yep Roc, an indie outfit specializing in veterans such as Nick Lowe and Husker Du’s Bob Mould – well past 40, but still creatively vital – Doe seems to have finally found a reliable roost.
On his latest, “A Year in the Wilderness,” a brief piano prelude sets an elegiac tone for 11 songs that weave Doe’s familiar strands of punk, country and folk into a tight, masterful statement. Talents such as Aimee Mann and Jill Sobule join Doe for the bittersweet duets he’s perfected, and frequent bandmate Dave Alvin contributes the “X” factor to several vivid rockers.
It would be great to see John Doe featured in a film boasting the depth, atmosphere and soul of this album, but they rarely make ’em like that anymore. Fortunately for music fans, he still does.