Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band: Between My Head And The Sky

The fact that Yoko Ono’s Between My Head And The Sky—the first release using the Plastic Ono Band name since 1975—is coming out at the height of yet another Beatles resurgence is surely no coincidence. But just as it’s impossibly myopic to think of Ono as nothing more than an opportunist (albeit a mythic one), it’s easy to feel a bit icky about the timing of the whole thing. The good news: Ono, as usual, doesn’t need our approval—not just because she’s rich and famous and fuck you, but because her music stands on its own. Aided primarily by Sean Lennon and Japanese pop maestro Cornelius, the 76-year-old possessor of the world’s most divisive singing voice has stuffed Between full of brawny, brainy avant-rock with a heart of icy pop. The opener, “Waiting For The D Train,” thrums and shudders like its titular mode of transport; the title track is a ticklish, menacing mess of guitar squeals in the spirit of Plastic Ono’s hallowed original roster. Between them, Ono slips odd echoes, sharp angles, and yes, those abrasive blurts and gnarls of the larynx that never fail to achingly distort the membrane of pop music. As it’s been said a million times, if it weren’t for The Beatles, no one would still be talking about Yoko Ono. That’s just one more reason to love The Beatles.