The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

jackhammer · 05-27-2009, 08:38 AM

I can't believe that there is no thread on this great great band. Grab electric blues and put it in a blender with some grooves, a bit of punk, a little bit of gentle experimentation and voila:

The first track I ever heard by them:

Recommended listening:

Damage (as Blues Explosion)
Acme.

khfreek · 05-27-2009, 03:09 PM

I downloaded Acme, we'll see how it goes.

Urban Hat€monger ? · 05-27-2009, 03:42 PM

I used to be a big fan of them.

Then I heard Pussy Galore & Boss Hog. I prefer them these days. Much dirtier.

lucifer_sam · 05-27-2009, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger

I used to be a big fan of them.

Then I heard Pussy Galore & Boss Hog. I prefer them these days. Much dirtier.

dirtier yes but also much less competent songwriting. from what i can tell that's the sole appeal to the music.

as for JSBX, i've been acquainted with them for a while, Orange is one of my favorites followed by Crypt Style and Now I Got Worry. Plastic Fang is pretty lackluster though.

as a group i'd much rather listen to Gun Club, who predated them by a decade and still sound far better.

The Batlord · 03-25-2015, 01:44 PM

Been digging on this band ever since bob. first used that JSBX poster as an avatar (for the millionth time, I give The bob. hella ****ing props). I tend to have a short attention span that prevents me from analyzing albums as a whole, so it's hard to have a fav one, but their early work has been ruling my ears off and on for the past half year or so. Extra Width, Orange, Now I Got Worry, and Acme are just a stellar run of albums. Even their later work -- which I've only delved into a tiny bit -- is still pretty awesome. Not as raw, but that stuff sounds like a band that's more in control of their craft.

I saw Jackhammer mention that they had never truly released a stellar album, and maybe that's true, but when your sound is that perfect, and your high points are that much higher than so many bands who've released more consistent albums, how much does it really matter? To me, Black Sabbath never quite released an album that lived up their potential -- either because of bad song choices (the debut), bad track orders (Paranoid), or a little of both (Master of Reality), but I'd still take them over Deep Purple (who's Machine Head album is flawless from front to back). I feel the same with JSBX. Perhaps they're just too raw and out-of-control to ever get it together enough to orchestrate a perfect album.

Can't mention this band and not mention that video of them doing that outrageous live performance on some Australian, teen music show. It just felt like how rock 'n' roll should be. I realize they were hamming it up for the camera just cause they could, but it was just brilliant how they showed the sanitized world of mainstream rock just how unpredictable and uncontrollable rock 'n' roll is meant to be.

And Jon Spencer is the beating heart of rock 'n' roll and coolness, possibly right up their (at least as far as coolness goes) with Tom Waits. I'd love to spend just five minutes talking to both of those dudes, just to see if I could absorb even a small amount of their Supreme Awesomeness. I can never tell if Jon is an egomaniac though. He has such a loud personality that I can't picture him just being a "normal guy", and anyone who puts their name at the front of their band name has got to feel himself to be a centerpiece. But then every live performance, and at least once on every album, he always goes out of his way to shout out the names of the rest of the band like they're being inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hat€monger ?

I used to be a big fan of them.

Then I heard Pussy Galore & Boss Hog. I prefer them these days. Much dirtier.

Will defly check that **** out.

jackhammer · 05-27-2009, 05:57 PM

I still have not heard Pussy galore and that was the band before JSBX I think?

Urban Hat€monger ? · 05-27-2009, 06:08 PM

Yeah Pussy Galore is a sort of proto JSBX. Boss Hog is his wife's band.

jackhammer · 05-27-2009, 07:09 PM

I much prefer the sly sense of fun that JSBX employ personally although I feel that they have never delivered one truly outstanding album.

lucifer_sam · 05-27-2009, 08:33 PM

a lament i can certainly echo.

pourmeanother · 05-29-2009, 01:05 AM

Will check it out. Every time I talked to a fellow Keys fan they say I should look into them.

05-27-2009, 08:38 AM	#1 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion I can't believe that there is no thread on this great great band. Grab electric blues and put it in a blender with some grooves, a bit of punk, a little bit of gentle experimentation and voila: The first track I ever heard by them: Recommended listening: Damage (as Blues Explosion) Acme. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

05-27-2009, 03:09 PM	#2 (permalink)
khfreek What a guy Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Brentwood, TN Posts: 2,123	I downloaded Acme, we'll see how it goes. __________________ last.fm

05-27-2009, 03:42 PM	#3 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,626	I used to be a big fan of them. Then I heard Pussy Galore & Boss Hog. I prefer them these days. Much dirtier. __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.

05-27-2009, 05:57 PM	#6 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	I still have not heard Pussy galore and that was the band before JSBX I think? __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

05-27-2009, 06:08 PM	#7 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,626	Yeah Pussy Galore is a sort of proto JSBX. Boss Hog is his wife's band. __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.

05-27-2009, 07:09 PM	#8 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	I much prefer the sly sense of fun that JSBX employ personally although I feel that they have never delivered one truly outstanding album. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

05-27-2009, 08:33 PM	#9 (permalink)
lucifer_sam Unrepentant Ass-Mod Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3,921	a lament i can certainly echo. __________________ first.am

05-29-2009, 01:05 AM	#10 (permalink)
pourmeanother Saaaad Panda Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 852	Will check it out. Every time I talked to a fellow Keys fan they say I should look into them. __________________ Life is just blah, blah, blah You hope for blah And sometimes you find it, but mostly it's blah And waiting for blah And hoping you were right about the blahs you made And then, just when you think you've got the whole blah'd damn thing figured out And you're surrounded by the ones you blah Death shows up... anddd blah, blah, blah.