Tom Morello: The Nightwatchman
World Wide Rebel Songs
(New West/Universal)
0/5
Tom Morello’s project The Nightwatchman loosely preaches indigestible leftist garbage through a mixture of bad metaphor, Americana, pop, rock, and worldbeat. World Wide Rebel Songs, the third full-length solo release from the Rage Against the Machine guitarist, is an ode to the middle-aged, bar-frequenting man who isn’t well-read enough to know why he’s a socialist, or why he’s mad. There’s little content or subtlety to the lyrics—it’s all “rah, rah, capitalists are bad”—World Wide Rebel Songs never gives a concrete image or story to depict its argument. None of the songs on this album will be remembered in the same vein as Utah Phillips or William Elliott Whitmore (if the songs are remembered at all). The Nightwatchman simply comes across as insincere and confused on this chore of an album. Ugh.