Here Comes the Night

You can hear the roots of Buster Poindexter in the breezy, eclectic approach of former New York Dolls singer David Johansen’s third solo album.  With the assistance of guitarist Blondie Chaplin supplying most of the co-writes and the album’s electricity, Johansen spends time dipping into samba (“Marquesa de Sade”) and calypso-reggae (“Rollin’ Job,” “Party Tonight”) while also hustling up the street-wise hard rock that his fans expected. “She Loves Strangers,” “Bohemian Love Pad” and “My Obsession” are jittery, fast-paced, new-wave-influenced hard-rock tunes that sound peculiarly dated with keyboards and guitar tones that could only have come from the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Johansen kicks up the R&B swagger for “You Fool You” and pulls off an atmospheric ballad with ‘Heart of Gold.” A bonus live version of the title track from a 1982 concert in Boston fills out the picture of pre-Poindexter solo Johansen. He still had the desire to play purebred rock ‘n’ roll, but with an ear towards commercial concerns, as his career had yet to take off like it always seemed it would.