Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Meat And Bone
Freeform Patterns
Finally,
after eight long years, the blues is number one once more (baby), as the
freaked out, fucked up sounds of Jon Spencer and the mighty Blues Explosion
come right back atcha for another round, a wiggy mix of garage rock ‘n’ soul, bodily
dragged through the blues wringer, no quarter asked, none given.
Over
the course of 21 years and 12-ish records, JSBX have made it their off-kilter
mission to re-inform the blues as they see it, the resulting fuzzed out
glorious mess their trademark, and truth be told, their MO hasn’t changed with Meat And Bone – this could well be 1996
right here, circa I Got Worry, and
there ain’t a single thing wrong with that.
The
band’s last couple of records – 2004’s Damage
and 2002’s Plastic Fang – have
smoothed somewhat, whilst still retaining the madness so inherent, but this one
takes it back to the complete reckless abandon they did so well through the
‘90s. It’s instantly recognisable (from
opener ‘Black Mold’) as who, and indeed, what,
it is, and this is what makes it so good.
There’s no arty variation, there’s no trying to discover themselves
amongst their music, it’s just music,
ragged and raw, fucking music, courtesy of a band who do it better than anyone,
ever.
In
their own way, a pop line infuses a lot of the tracks, there are little catchy
bits and pieces buried deep within the mud and slime, there’s out-of-control distortion
as a matter of course, there’s harmonica blasting through like a steam train
running express through the depths of blues hell – it’s utter frenetic madness
and mayhem, set to as primal a beat as you can get, The Blues (baby). This one is to be played loud, it’s to be
played whilst you’re having sex, it’s to be played with a bottle of whiskey and
a seven beer chaser. It’s the Blues
Explosion baby, yeah.
Samuel J. Fell
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