MUSIC
Rounding out this week’s testosterone-fueled trilogy is Jack White. He has the swagger of Hank Moody and the brains of Jess Walter, and he’s making a go of it on his own. His first solo album, Blunderbuss, is set for release April 24, but you can already find the record’s first single, “Love Interruption,” on the web. It’s bluesy, melodic and, because it’s Jack White, it’s also a bit soulful, with the chorus, “I won’t let love disrupt, corrupt or interrupt me anymore.” If you’re jonesing for a little more rambunctious guitar work, White produced a new single (“Evil”) with Tom Jones, which is being released next week, but you can stream it online now.
TV
Now in its fifth season, Californication (Sundays 10:30 pm on Showtime) has struggled to find a new, compelling source of tension, besides the general follies of Hank Moody, the well-sexed boozing writer played by David Duchovny. But there’s still a lot to like (in addition to all the nudity): Moody is smart, soulful, tough, yet open-minded and decent — what I imagine Hemingway would have been like had he been born in the ’60s. Not an entirely bad image for modern man. This season has so far meandered as Moody tries to figure out how to live without the love of his life.
SHORT STORY
Speaking of badass writers (see Californication), Spokane’s own literary rock star, Jess Walter, finds his name on the cover of the current issue of Harper’s. Walter’s story, Thief, tells of a father trying to determine which of his kids is shamelessly pilfering change from the family’s vacation fund and thus is a sociopath. For the local reader, there are several unobtrusive mentions of the region: The father works at Kaiser Aluminum, the family lives off of Trent and for their next great family vacation, they’re headed to Kelowna, B.C.
