Freak Show

Fame makes the soul rot a little faster, a sentiment the teenage Daniel Johns reckoned with following the global success of Silverchair’s 1995 debut album, <i>Frogstomp</i>. In response, the young grunge hero proclaims himself the titular freak on the Newcastle band’s 1997 follow-up, <i>Freak Show</i>. In a decade that made angst the ultimate fashion accessory, Johns proudly lives and breathes it—almost frighteningly so. “Lost my soul, lost my confidence in me,” he snarls on sludge-metal opener “Slave”. Later he’s “contemplating suicide” on “No Association”, a menacing thrasher that highlights Silverchair’s hard-hitting rhythm section of bassist Chris Joannou and drummer Ben Gillies, Johns’ consummate accomplices in self-immolation. While it’s hard not to hear echoes of Alice In Chains’ haunting melodies or Kurt Cobain’s tortured poetics—especially on the searing rocker “Freak” and furious punk barrage “Lie to Me”—Johns is sick of the comparisons. “I need a change,” he broods on “Cemetery” through a delicate weave of strings, “not to imitate, but to irritate.”