Boomslang (2003)

Johnny Marr & The Healers

If recent solo efforts, The Messenger and

Playland, were qualified successes, back in the early 2000s, Marr floundered wearing the frontman’s hat on an album that sailed mighty close to landfill indie. There was serviceable fretwork and solid hooks on highlights that include Something To Shout About and

Down On The Corner, but too much of the material passed in a fog of ugly riffing and generic Britrock vocals. It was strange and depressing to hear indie guitar’s great originator and icon sounding like an also-ran.