John Frusciante: DC/EP

Gems, No Junk

I didn’t know what to think of the album when I bought it on my vacation in Los Angeles. A record with only four songs! And still at the price for a full-length album, even if that’s less in dollars than in euros! But, being a die-hard John Frusciante fan, I figured I needed it, if only to complete my collection. In the car, driving on the highways of LA, we put it on.

Everyone knows the expression ‘less is more’. With DC/EP, John proves that’s absolutely true. The songs may be few in number, but of an incredibly high quality.

The first song ‘Dissolve’, sounds like it should be in a drama movie, directed by Spielberg, as it radiates heartfelt emotion and anticipation.

‘Goals’ is a soft, melodious song, with John’s warm voice providing a soothing effect to its listeners.

‘A Corner’ is possibly the best song out of all four, standing out for its beautiful, simple guitar chords and apocalyptic ending, which’s easy to sing along to.

The last song of the record, ‘Repeating’ has a real jazzy feel to it and is, with its agreeable, ballad-like qualities, a worthy end to this short record.   

John performs all the vocals, guitar parts and bass parts himself. His usual partner on his solo projects, Josh Klinghoffer, isn’t present on this album, but Jerry Busher (Fugazi and French Toast), provides a perfect replacement on drums.

So DC/EP may not be John’s biggest project, but it certainly isn’t his worst! He seemed to realize that it was better to bring out four gems instead of more songs, that could’ve been potential junk. Apparently, they don’t call him ‘The Visionary’ for nothing!