When punk legend Iggy Pop and former Kyuss/Queens Of The Stone Age leader Josh Homme surprised the world with the announcement of their secretly made album last month, fans immediately began to salivate over the possibilities of an unholy union – and wonder whether it could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Now, not to be the voice of doom and gloom, but you can forget about future albums, as Post Pop Depression actually feels more like a final farewell from the erstwhile Stooge rather than a new beginning. Hell, just re-read the record’s title for a second and let that sink in...

Regardless of whether Post Pop Depression will be Iggy’s last album or not, the message on this nine-track opus is clear – he’s going out swinging. Arguably the best collection of music that both he and Homme have put their names to in a decade, the record is an unrelentingly groovy slice of sleaze-laden ’70s rock and roll. Opening with the fiendishly catchy ‘Break Your Heart’ (“I’m gonna break your heart/ I’m gonna get under your skin,” warns Pop in that infamous warble of his), tracks like ‘Sunday’ (a fusion of Kate Bush’s ‘Running Up That Hill’ and Bowie’s ‘Young Americans’) and the spaghetti western-flavoured ‘Vulture’ rank among Iggy’s finest work. The album never matches the bite that made the Stooges so formidable, but Post Pop Depression does indeed succeed as the “victory lap for a man who’s not sure if he won” that Pop and Homme intended.

Key Track: Sunday

7/10