The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Extra Width LP

Description

On their self-titled debut album,the Jon Spencer Blues Explosionhad worked out the basic framework of their sound — lots of guitar clatter, booming drums, and wild vocal gesticulations fromSpencer— but it took a while for the pieces to really come together, and 1993’sExtra Widthwas the first album where they revealed their true potential. The opening tune, “Afro,” provides the key —SpencerandJudah Bauer‘s guitars lock in with a sharp call and response, drummerRussell Siminspounds the kit with the force of a punk rocker but the groove of a soul man, and the organ that chimes in with the band slyly pays homage to any number of classic funk sides while adding a good, greasy undertow to the sound.The Blues Explosionwere never any kind of blues band (as they freely admitted when anyone bothered to ask), but onExtra Widththey copped to the fact they’d learned a lot from classic R&B of the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s, and after spending the better part of a year on the road, their studying and hard work paid off. Not everything onExtra Widthcomes together with the precise chaos of “Afro,” but practically every track feels like a better song and a stronger performance than anything on the debut album, and the layers of vocal reverb, keyboard patches, and dubwise studio effects showed thatJSBXhad learned a lot about the possibilities of the studio since the bare-bones sessions that produced their earliest recordings. IfThe Jon Spencer Blues Explosionsounded like the work of a band that was a natural evolution from whatSpencerwas doing withPussy Galore,Extra Widthmade it clear they were something quite a bit different — still crazed and noisy, but with lots more soul, some butt-shaking tunes, and a sense of fun thoroughly absent from the earlier group. -All Music Guide