Plastic Fang

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion | Format: MP3 Download

Product Details

• Original Release Date: April 9, 2002
• Label: Matador
• Copyright: 2002 Matador Records
• Total Length: 48:20
• Genres: Alternative Rock/Indie & Lo-Fi
• ASIN: B000XEEN0Q
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,743 Paid in MP3 Albums (See Top 100 Paid in MP3 Albums)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars That's the sweat, April 25, 2002

By 

"burquhart1" (Woodstock, Ontario) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plastic Fang (Audio CD)

The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion has charted a crooked course since the release of its debut album in 1992. Courting controversy, the band played with genres like a six-year-old playing dress-up, trying on a mishmash of styles and to hell with the consequences. The result was a postmodern pastiche of punk, blues, soul and hip hop, starting with the gutter rockabilly of Crypt Style and ending with the funk collage of Acme.
With the release of Plastic Fang, the Explosion's sixth proper album, this postmodern brew has been usurped by the straightforward, put on hiatus like a low-rated TV show. The loops and electronic squiggles of Acme have been shelved, and the Explosion has released a bona fide rock 'n' roll album. Taking its cues from songs like "Wait a Minute" and "Chowder" - released on the Explosion's odds and sods collection Xtra-Acme - the new album has more in common with the Rolling Stones than the band's early noise.
For the Blues Explosion, the blues have always been more about attitude than genre - it was the sweat, not the gutbucket guitar. Like the band's 1996 release Now I Got Worry, the Explosion do sound a little more like a blues band on this record, albeit in the way the Yardbirds or Cream sounded like a blues band. The Explosion - Spencer, second guitarist Judah Bauer and drummer Russel Simins - kick out the jams on Plastic Fang. These boys sound serious.
"She Said," the album's first single, borrows a well-thumbed page from The Cramps' songbook, with Spencer recounting the midnight travails of some tormented wolfman. Bauer and Spencer lay the foundation, hammering out some bottom-heavy licks on guitar, while Simins keeps it steady with his piston-like drumming. Spencer still has that Presley hiccough, punctuating this horror story like an overzealous copy editor, but the man's voice has some real soul. When Spencer yelps "My soul is lost, I said I curse the day that I ever was born," it just sounds cool ? and a little scary.
The Explosion slows it down a speck with "Hold On," giving a passing nod to Stax/Volt and the Atlantic soul of yesteryear. With the legendary Dr. John lending some sweet... guitar and Parliament's Bernie Worrell manning the organ, the song has a real vintage feel, like some obscure 45 lost in a dusty, abandoned jukebox. Spencer clearly enjoys the song's shamble, giving his best vocal performance of the album. The man also retains his customary bravura - "Everybody want to jump up, get down and kiss my feet."
Simins is the highlight on "Money Rock ?n? Roll," elevating this slab of bluesy rock with his funky drumming. While the guitar chugs along like the 10:15 train, Simins is making like the Meters? Zig Modeliste, keeping everything rolling with his emphatic percussion. While Spencer name checks the Clash's Joe Strummer and and the New York Knicks, the band builds to its wall of sound conclusion, sounding like some hole-in-the-wall house band.
Starting with an acoustic guitar and Spencer?s "This is a sad, true story," "Mean Heart," after a couple of gentle knocks, finally kicks in the door like a jealous boyfriend. Bauer keeps up a bluesy rumble on his six string while Spencer coaxes a loose rattle from the acoustic. Again, Simins is steady as a 30-day chip, keeping the whole racket under control. With Spencer moaning about his "unsatisfied heart," the song shifts from soulful lament to howling defiance in its four-and-a-half minutes.

The bulk of the album's songs, from the album-closing "Point of View" to "Killer Wolf"?s sour menace, are incendiary rockers, a fitting match to the band's combustible live shows. While the Explosion can still slow things down, like on "Mother Nature," the band retains its edge, imbuing the song with the rhythm and the blues.
In the past, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion has been accused of everything from minstrelsy to deconstructionism, with certain critics questioning the band?s authenticity. This camp has always denounced the band?s "appropriation" of the blues idiom, misconstruing the band's reverence for the form as some sort of aural black-face. But the Blues Explosion has "never played no blues." Like the Stones, or even Captain Beefheart, the band uses the blues as a starting point, forging something entirely new out of its mishmash of influences. This band should have nothing to prove to its detractors - what other so-called punk bands have recorded with R.L. Burnside, Rufus Thomas and Andre Williams - but, with Plastic Fang, the Explosion has crafted an album that should finally quiet the naysayers.
Working with producer Steve Jordan, the band has recorded its most consistent album to date, a carefully considered homage to the the music that inspired it. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is not arch commentary - this is heartfelt and real, and one of the best rock 'n' roll records of the last couple of years. That's the sweat of the Blues Explosion.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Multiple Listens Brings Rewards, April 18, 2004

By 

Chris 444 Lockhart (Asheville, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plastic Fang (Audio CD)

This is an excellent rock album that falls perfectly into Jon Spencer's musical progression. Fans of early Blues Explosion may not find what they are looking for, but they probably did not enjoy the previous album or two either. (...) As each album from Jon and crew has been more focused musically than the one previous, this album is their most focused offering yet. Apparently, they took these songs on the road before recording the album. While some of the spontaneous feeling is lost, so much more is gained in quality.

Lyrically, this is the most advanced work Jon has done, to the best of my knowledge. This is a conceptual album hidden slightly among typical Blues Explosion puncuation. While the video for 'She Said', and album cover and title push the werewolf theme forward, a closer listen makes it apparent that the werewolf theme is only a motif, or metaphor in this case. The story is told in chronological order, across the majority of the twelve tracks. And the tale told is a story of infidelity, guilt, sin, and loss of love.

I have been listening to the Blues Explosion since 1996, and am not a so-called newcomer. I have all of their albums and enjoy them all. However, 'Plastic Fang' and 'Acme' are the only Blues Explosion albums that I will play all the way through without skipping any tracks. This album has suffered from poor reviews, mostly from those who only listened to the album once, and did so trying to hear 'Extra Width' and being disappointed that they did not do so. Make no mistake, this is the same Blues Explosion.. however, they have progressed past that point.

If you are new to the Blues Explosion, this, or 'Acme' would be a great place to start. If you are a long time Jon Spencer fan, listen to this album with an open mind.. and you may find that you actually enjoy it in its own right. In summary, this is a great album, and I highly recommend it.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Bit Too "Back to Roots", April 24, 2002

By 

Jonathan Schaper (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Plastic Fang (Audio CD)

Before getting to the music itself I'll explain what you get with the limited edition: fancy packaging, nothing more. This is part of an unfortunate trend with recent music publishing: failing to offer the fans anything more than a new gimmick. There isn't one single extra track. But to be honest, I am the type of [person] who goes for creative packaging the marketers must love. In keeping with the album's theme (songs about vampires and werewolves) Chip Kidd has designed a booklet filled with images from 1970s horror magazines (artwork by Estaban Marato, etc.), including an add for plastic fangs. The limited edition cd, instead of coming in a jewel case, is packaged in a cardboard sleeve (with a funny scene drawn by Wally Wood not in the regular ed.) which, along with the regular booklet, is packed inside a plastic baggie with a cardboard hanger (much like the packaging novelty items such as plastic fangs are usually found in). Pretty cool, but not great for storage.

As to the album's substance: Jon Spencer and co. don't always put out great albums, but at least they are always good. This is one of the merely "good" ones. As usual, the songs are much better than anything you'll find on mainstream radio and they will definitely keep you awake, but there is nothing particularly inventive about any of them. In fact, they are more like a throwback to the sort of country and blues inspired rock you could find on the radio decades ago than a return to Spencer's earlier albums. In other words by "returning to roots", he must be referring to those who originally inspired him, vs. "Orange" or "Extra Width" (or Boss Hog, etc).

At least the songs are good enough for Spencer to retain the title of "saviour of rock and roll" for another year (along with half a dozen other artists), and when you consider that his music does not benefit from nostalgia unlike the oldies (CCR and the rest), the fact that his songs are equally enjoyable becomes more significant. There is also less of his Elvis vocal schtick which can become annoying after too long, which is a plus. But Stewart unfortunately seems to be heading towards musical conservatism. Some may hold this against him, but good music is good music.