Jayne County

Deviation (Royalty)
by Jon Sarre

Back when he/she was known as “Wayne,” Mr./Ms. County flounced outta CBGB’s and Max’s Kansas City on the coattails of the Ramones, the Heartbreakers, Richard Hell, and Television, which, I guess, is where Jayne gets off (ha ha) with the “legendary” tag. If he/she had been living in Des Moines or Pensacola, he/she would be married with 2.5 (adopted?) kids, but one of the perks of livin’ in the Big Apple is being able to dress like a woman and then actually become a woman, thus ensuring you’ll sell twice as few records as before.

I don’t really understand what possessed Jayne to put a new record out, but everybody’s doin’ it, whether or not they have anything to say, so what the hell? Jayne doesn’t have any new tricks up his/her skirt, but the band is solid, especially the Johnny Thunders-esque crunch power chord guitar player. The lyrics are pretty funny, too, since Jayne wisely avoids any and all deep and meaningful reflective material in favor of stuff like “Everyone’s An Asshole But Me” and “Texas Chainsaw Manicurist.” On “Little Star” he/she diverts from the three-chord attack and nicely pulls off a Stones-y blues-boogie romp. The cover of “Cherry Bomb” transcends the Runaways in a raunchy way that Joan Jett could never hope to touch (she might catch somethin’, y’see). Weirdest of all is “That’s What the New Breed Say,” which may or may not be a cover of Pussy Galore’s “New Breed.” If it is, Jayne deserves a Grammy simply for figuring out the lyrics. That’s one hell of an accomplishment.