If you don't own Bob Seger's Ramblin' Gamblin' Man you are insane. I like this better than the bootlegs. What the hell happened to this guy? Joel Selvin just reviewed his concert, which ensures he must still be doing his Like A Cock schtick.

http://www.robertchristgau.com/

You Come and Go Like a Pop Song [Goldenvoice, 1999]Thelonious Monster's feckless leader explains what happened to his teeth ("Cereal Song," "Boy at a Bus Stop"). ***

California Clam Chowder [Lakeshore, 2004]Not as peaky as beautiful fuckup Bob Forrest's Bicycle Thief comeback five years ago. If the brief "The Germs Song" is ugly and chaotic and the briefer "The Beck Song" disses the post-folkie and his haircut, titles like "The Bob Dylan Song" and "The Iggy Stooge Song" are less evocative than implied. As for "The Elton John Song"--well, Elton should cover it, because Forrest needs the money. Throughout this out-of-nowhere record, he and his relaxed band ride an emotional openness and tuneful ease that some pop schemer should convert into accounts receivable. Forrest is glad to be alive because staying that way has been kind of hard. The loveliest of his many lovely moments reaches out in near-tears solidarity to a sad, sexy, solitary salesclerk who wasn't so lucky. Why it's called "The Big Star Song" I don't know or care. A-