| 
album // Damage
Review forthcoming.
single // Burn It Off
Rechristening themselves as the easier-to-say Blues Explosion,
Judah Bauer, Russell Simins and leader Jon Spencer
return to the fold with 'Burn It Off', a thundering rock n' roll masterpiece
- all distorted guitar and bass, pounding drums and a typically wild soul-rock
vocal from Spencer; it's a perfect amalgam of The Beatles' 'Happy
Birthday' and the best parts of the Rolling Stones' back catalogue,
bizarrely mixed with impossible shades of Bon Jovi's 'Bad Medicine'.
It's also under three minutes, giving you the perfect excuse to listen
to it over and over. The Stones connection is quite understandable - this
was produced by Steve Jordan, who has worked with the legendary
band in the past.
Double A-side 'Fed Up And Low Down', co-written, produced
and mixed by DJ Shadow is slowed-down hip hop rock with a thrash
metal chorus; beautifully chaotic, as Blues Explosion tracks often are,
Spencer's vocals once again treated with distortion and echo effects.
The demo of 'Cold, Cold Eyes' sounds good enough to be on their raw Mute
debut, Now I Got Worry. Plenty of fuzzy guitar and snare-led soul-inflected
heavy blues here, only Spencer's quiet vocal implying this is a demo.
The clear vinyl 7" also includes the new track, 'Serial
Number'. As soon as I get around to hooking up my turntable, I'll let
you know what it's like.
7":
A. Burn It Off
B1. Fed Up And Low Down (Edit)
B2. Serial Number
CD:
1. Burn It Off
2. Fed Up And Low Down (Edit)
3. Cold, Cold Eyes (Demo)
single // Crunchy
For this second single from the seminal Damage
album, Blues Explosion drafted in two of New York's finest
bands du jour to remodel tracks from that album. Tyler Pope,
Mario Andreoni and Justin Vandervolgen from !!!, under the alias
TMJ take on 'Crunchy' while DFA get 'Mars, Arizona'.
The lead mix of 'Crunchy', one of the catchiest
and straight-up rock standards on Damage sees TMJ blending
Talking Heads-style reedy funk guitar over tinkly percussion and
almost bangra beats, with distorted vocals to create a totally unique
post-punk, 'anything goes' musical vision which wouldn't sound out
of place in the fertile musical melting pot of New York in the late
seventies. Pope and Andreoni provide additional music while Vandervolgen
provided the mix.
'Mars, Arizona' is extended to over 10 mins, and
is the superior funky electronic rock you'd expect from DFA, all
driven by a solid 4/4 beat. The main, fuzzed-up rock riff and Spencer's
sporadic vocals from the original track sound as if they were designed
to exist alongside DFA's urgent electronic backdrop. The second
half of the mix largely leaves guitars to one slide, leaving Spencer
to mutter and yelp over an intense and harshly-filtered 303-esque
sequence.
A version of the restrained plucked blues track
'Blues Explosion Man' from early album Orange recorded for
New Jersey radio station WFMU rounds of this release, the restrained
guitar, drums and vocals reminding you that this is what Jon,
Judah and Russell are really about.
7":
A. Crunchy
B. Crunchy (Solex 'Bounce' Remix)
12":
1. Hot Gossip (TMJ (!!!) Remix)
2. Crunchy
3. Mars, Arizona (DFA Remix)
CD:
1. Crunchy (TMJ (!!!) Remix)
2. Mars, Arizona (DFA Remix)
3. Blues Explosion Man (Live at FMU)
|
