Album Review

Pearl Jam – The Fixer

• 15th Sep 2009

Refusing to fade into irrelevance, Pearl Jam sound more fresh and exciting than they have in a long time on the lead single from their hotly anticipated ninth studio effort. It’s a blisteringly uptempo and off-kilter song, showing a definite punk influence, not least in the bouncy riffage that compliments Eddie Vedder’s superlative vocals on the verses. The lyrics are unusually simple and optimistic for Vedder (though there’s arguably a hint of irony lurking there) and they’re delivered with an energetic slow-fast dynamic to ensure they’ll stay in your head a fair while. It’s fist-pumping stuff and if you’re not won over by the “yeah, yeah, yeah” refrain, then I wouldn’t like to meet you in a dark alley, or at all for that matter.