Customer Reviews

Heavy Trash

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Raw and raunchy. Gritty and groovy.The way it should be played. A great CD all the way through. Quit reading this and listen to the soundclips, then buy it. This is good basic primal rock. Played for fun with feeling rather than a whole lot of thought.
a good mix of rockabilly, punk blues, murder ballads, and down and dirty swamp rock.

I have been a huge fan of Jon Spencer for years and if your like me and have been slightly disappointed in the last couple of records (Plastic Fang, Damage) I mean they arent terrible, they just dont have the edge and replayability of extra width, orange and The Caroline album. This was the revitalization that Jon Spencer needed. I find myself anticipating the next Heavy Trash album much more than JSBX. Its definitely not like The Blues Explosion but its just the right mix of Johnny Brunette, Elvis and Hank Williams combined with a lo-fi modern edge. If you like rockabilly and Gothic Country, completely disregard "Cooljames" comments, this album doesnt say JSBX on it, it says Heavy Trash. By the way, I do agree with the disapointment of 5150 but this aint like that. This album is great!

Neither Jon Spencer (Pussy Galore, Blues Explosion) nor Matt Verta-Ray (Speedball Baby, Madder Rose) are strangers to '50s rockabilly, but nothing in their catalogs has so purely chased the Sun's slapback fueled sound so fully. Which isn't to suggest this is an exercise in retro reproduction, as the duo's music is influenced by the garage sounds of The Cramps, the bigger-than-life attitude of glam-rock (T Rex, New York Dolls), and is threaded with organ, theramin and other unusual touches. The dominant forces, though, are the duos vocals and their guitars. The drums are lowered in the mix, letting the bass and the guitar strings themselves carry a lot of the beat, and the vocals contain the yelping energy of Charlie Feathers. "Mr. K.I.A." strips the band down to thumping percussion and a Johnny Cash like baritone vocal. "Walking Bum" takes the tempo down to a walk for John Graboff to overlay his pedal steel with Spencer and Verta-Ray twang the low-end of their tremolo drenched guitar strings. "Lover Street" sounds like the Cramps borrowing the slide riff of Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle With You." Interesting stuff - but perhaps not for rockabilly purists! [©2005 hyperbolium dot com]

What is different is that they are working the rockabilly and early rock side of the street. Tracks like "The Loveless," "Dark Hair'd Rider" and "This Day Is Mine" kick up some serious duck-tailed dust, "The Hump" and "Justine Alright" are crazed handclapping, shouted chorus rockers, and the hip-shaking "Gatorade" sounds like it was recorded at a party in Hasil Adkins' backyard. The tracks that scale back the excitement are very good too; "Fix These Blues" is a pedal-steeled country ballad, "Take My Hand," a doo-wopping lament complete with a spoken interlude and "Under the Waves," a moody, highly arranged murder ballad that might be the best track on the album. Only "Mr. K.I.A." doesn't work, as it brings in some hip-hop influences and is too repetitive and, well, modern-sounding. Spencer is in top form throughout, dropping hilarious asides, hiccupping and whooping, crooning and howling like an unholy blend of Elvis, Gene Vincent and Lux Interior.

We heard their CDs first, then were fortunate to be close enough to see them play. Hot tip, do NOT miss the them in concert if they play close to you. They play a lot in Europe, but on the rare occasions they are here in the US - be there!

Heavy Trash rocks like there was no tomorrow! Good ole Rock N Roll! Also, check into their backgrounds - these guys are beyond talented in so many areas. It's so refreshing in these days of pop queens and train-wrecks. Awesome musicians - especially when backed by PowerSolo, another great group. Trust me, you will not be disappointed by this CD or their last one, Going Way Out.

I heard a song from this CD on a local radio station and was immediately intrigued by the DJ's description of the music style as "Swamp". Dark Hair'd Rider was great, with a rockabilly sound and nifty vocals. When I listened to the rest of the disk after ordering it, I was pleased and I would definitely recommend this one to folks that like this kind of sound. My husband heard one song and promptly put the whole disk on his MP3. Good rockin' dancin' and drinkin' music!

When I first heard this CD at a listening booth in Sydney's Red Eye Records, I thought Hot-Damn this stuff rocks. The whole new-rock revival started with the 70s and then moved off into the 60s and 80s but no one bothered doing any renaissance work on the old 50s rockabilly.

The first few songs appeared to be so much fun, tunes you could tap your foot to and cause you to slap your knee sporadically with pleasure. I finally bought the CD and gave it a whirl a few times and really enjoyed it. But then it started to ring really hollow. None of these songs have any real staying power.

So in conclusion, this album is a bit of fun, wrench as much enjoyment as you can get out of it and then leave at the back of your collection to accrue a thick, impenetrable skin of dust. Maybe in a couple of years you might excavate it during a spring clean, or house move and give it a couple of extra spins.

When Van Halen's 5150 album came out, I was 12 years old and was waiting at the mall entrance with my 10-year-old brother to pick up the cassette tape. We bought the tape for something like 8 bucks, rushed home (walkman technology was still quite pricey at the time) and popped it into my boom box. Expecting to hear the Hagarized version of David Lee's 1984, my anticipation peaked as the music started. But wait! The first song sucks. I fast-forward to the 2nd track. No 'Hot for Teacher' drums or 'Panama' stomping guitars? No! 3nd song? It sucks. 4th? Poopies. At this point, anticipation gave way to anxiety. Two songs later, frustration. When the last song on the album didn't even turn out to be an "I'll Wait", I realized what happened. Van Halen went soft, and it's unlikely that they'll make it back.

It's been a while since I bought a Jon Spencer LP. I was a huge fan of Extra Width and still listen to Orange weekly. The repetetive but skillful drums drown out the repetetive but fitting lyrics, and they work perfectly with the experimental mix of groovy heavy guitars, punk rock harmonica, and eerie theremin. Since then, the albums and live shows were routine and repetetive. I saw them for the album that came after "Orange", and then again when they linked up with R.L. Burnside, and the shows were the same. Boring. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's "Orange" record is their "1984". And this Heavy Trash album is their "5150".

Following nearly the same process as my first major musical disappointment, I bought the Heavy Trash album on CD and put it on in the car right away. First song, weak. Second song, soft. I'll save you some reading by wrapping up my opinion: This album is shallow and empty. Even worse, it recycles a lot of Jon Spencer's already-reused lyrics and the guitar work is lame at best. There's nothing valuable on this album. There was so much potential, but I got nothing out of this album.

That's not entirely true. The album cover is really cute and disturbing. The album itself is just disturbing.