Mick Jagger is 69. Keith Richards is 68. Charlie Watts is 71. Ronnie Wood is 65. The Rolling Stones are old, so it’s understandable that their first new single since 2006’s “Biggest Mistake” would be called “Doom and Gloom.” It’s a pessimistic title, and the song itself is loitering in that same darkness: it’s a dirty, kicked-up blues stomp that references zombies (“Crash landed in the Louisiana swamp/Shot up a horde of zombies, but I come out on top”), yet, if you’ll excuse the terrible pun, never sounds dead. There’s life in these old boys yet.
Mick’s increasingly thin voice ain’t what it used to be (his enunciation at times is to the point of parody), but after 50 years in the business — which is the reason the song was released; it’s the first of two new singles from the band’s upcoming greatest hits compilation Grrr!, celebrating five decades together — it’s nice to hear that they still occasionally give a sh*t. And didn’t put out something called Kisses on the Bottom.
