Entertainment Weekly - 04.2020

EDITED BY → ALEX SUSKIND @ALEXJSUSKIND

ALBUM GIGATON

LABEL MONKEYWRENCH/REPUBLIC

GENRE ROCK

RELEASE DATE MARCH 27

PEARL JAM

But as dire as that sounds, what

precedes and follows is not a collec-

tion of doomsaying brooders

(although there is a little of that; it’s

still Pearl Jam after all). It’s

a bracing shot of rock for a world

currently enamored of big,

blocky beats, bedroom pop, and

ASMR&B. Those all possess aural

delights of their own kind, but it’s

ON “SUPERBLOOD WOLFMOON,”

the second track on Pearl Jam’s

Gigaton, Eddie Vedder observes,

“Love notwithstanding, we are

each of us f---ed.” Succinct.

nice to hear a pushy, squalling gui-

tar solo, some hard-hitting yet

nimble drumming, and Vedder’s

just-beyond-linear-thought lyrics

again in a classic context.

It’s been seven years since these

famous sons of Seattle—and, tragi-

cally, the last of the big four from the

’90s alt-rock revolution featuring its

original lead singer—released an

album. Nearly 30 years (and five

drummers) removed from their

blockbuster 1991 debut, Ten, the

beloved quintet are reemerging in a

DANNY CLINCH

APRIL2020.MUSIC1.LO.indd 80 FINAL 3/3/20 12:47 PM