Alex Chilton plays up both the light and dark sides of his roguish image on Man Called Destruction mixing Memphis and New Orleans soul with the stylish minimalist pop long held dear by fans of Big Star and The Box Tops. Chilton's glib jabs at sexual conundra color his mature style as a humorous attempt to get back to a teen fervor for the beat and the thrill of the chase. On "Devil Girl", Chilton chides the resilient object of his desire, "You got me all hot, but somehow you're not." On this disc hear him prove what my French Film professor once told me, "Without friction, there would be no pleasure."

On (count 'em) six standout cover versions, Chilton follows his muse through a catalog of hexed and vexed themes. On Keith Keller's brassy singalong "Lies," and The Beach Boys "(I've got it bad for) The New Girl In School" Chilton's retains a commanding grip on pop irony. In a change of scene with Jimmy Reed's classic 12 bar "You Don't Have to Go," Chilton barrels into the conventions of the blues with impressive results. Throughout the cd compact arrangements keep the spotlight on fun rock guitar workouts such as the original "Boplexity"-- reminiscent of Jonathan Richman's exuberant late 80's work.

The humor of Man Called Destruction is inescapable especially on the staccato Canto in Italiano, "Il Ribelle," and the tongue in cheek "What's Your Sign Girl" The later is a masterpiece of pop fluff that reveals Chilton's roots in blues rock to be a solid counterpoint for an individual with other things on his mind. Is Destruction Creativity? If we are lucky, Alex can keep destroying himself for some time to come. I mean, you've just got to like the underdog spirit of this release by a songwriting legend whose pervasive influence obscures the fact that he can still do it.