Customer Reviews

Plastic Fang

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

For the life of me I can't figure out how people can call this record "too mainsteam" or "too accessible"???? While there are some great melodies throughout Plastic Fang it's also raw rowdy and unpredictible as usual. The first four songs along with track 10 are outstanding and the rest are top notch heavy reverb JSBX rockabilly-like alternative blues rockers. Don't hesitate to pick this one up.

Look, about 80% of all reviews on websites like these are 5 stars simply because die-hard fans want to show support for their favorite bands' new releases. I'm not sure if this is the case in my review, but if you have any sense of good newer American rock then you owe it to yourself to check out the Blues Explosion. Plastic Fang is a release that exemplifies the progression of a great rock band getting better over time, and this album is a great place to start. That being said, this album is not enough to truly experience this band for all they are. See them live, listen to their earlier work, and it will become clear that NO ONE can rock half as hard as this band; especially in the worst era of American rock to date. Thank God for bands like the Blues Explosion that prove Rock n' Roll in this country is far from dead.

This is the first CD I got from the band, if radiohead is 2000's pink floyd, then john spencer's band is 2000's buddy guy, jimi hendrix, all bluesy rock wrapped up in one neat package. Extremely lively and very powerful, will bring you up any blue day, if you like any of the above, or the Strokes and bunch, this CD will make your day! Been spinning on my player for a couple of weeks now, can't seem to get tired of it...

Imagine you're cruising along a dirt road, going 100 mph in an old, beat-up hot-rod. It's blazing hot outside as the wind screams by and stings your sweaty, dirt-caked face. You slide through twists & turns, speed over hills & through straightaways, stopping only at the occasional no-name, hole-in-the-wall gin joint on the side of the road. You're not pretty and neither is your hot-rod, but....you're both having fun!! That was the feeling that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion once gave me.

Now, imagine you're that same driver, but someone has convinced you to drive that same dirt road in a new, import SUV. They say the SUV will be more reliable and get better gas mileage. Plus, with the windows up, the air-conditioning will keep you cool and you'll stay clean. So, you give it a shot. Your cruising along, bored but comfortable, when, in your rearview mirror, there appears a cloud of dust on the horizon. Something is coming up behind you. Fast. In no time flat, a hot-rod goes flying past on the shoulder and speeds off wildly down the road ahead of you. Then another passes you. And another. You feel the need to kick up some of your own dust and speed off like you used to, but you can't. All because someone convinced you to travel a road meant for beat-up hot-rods in a practical, import SUV. That's the feeling that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion now gives me.

Give me back my hot-rod, man!

O.K. folks, just 'cause y'all are gettin' caught up in Strokes and White Stripes mania don't mean ya' gotta put The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion down! The ever trendy rock media and the wanna- be hipsters are cryin' out for the heads of The Blues Explosion over this record 'cause it is a little TOO rock'n'roll for their lame ears! So what if it ain't the greatest JSBX record ever? This record is still 1000 times better than what has been passing for "garage" or "broken blues" or what ever the heck people are callin' these new "bowl-cut" bands! Come on folks, we owe these guys.

Despite the complaints of old fans of Jon Spencer that he sold out, I find this album to be excellent. It is less eclectic and a little bit more sensible than his previous releases. This album is probably the most commercially acceptable of the Blues Explosion releases. If you aren't a diehard anti-commercialist punk, you will probably like this album. It is solid. The guitar work is straightforward and catchy. Other's have complained that this cd doesn't capture the fury of their live show. However, at their live show, they played most of this cd, and I felt it was pretty accurate live compared to the album. Personal favorite track is "She Said." This song has a very catchy guitar/vocal part for the chorus. Prepare to have this album get stuck in your head after a few listens. A recommended purchase for people who like good old fashioned rock and roll.

Russell Simins's drums are booty-shakin' cataclysmic. Everything a good album should be.