Jon Spencer

DISCOGRAPHY

Pussy Galore: Exile on Main Street (covers, 1986) 4/10

Pussy Galore: Right Now (1987) 7/10

Pussy Galore: Dial M for Motherfucker (1989) 7/10

Pussy Galore: Historia de la Musica Rock (1990) 5/10

Boss Hog: Cold Hands (1990) 6.5/10

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (1992) 7.5/10

Extra Width (1992) 7/10

Orange (1994) 7/10

Boss Hog: Boss Hog (1995) 6/10

Now I Got Worry (1996) 6.5/10

Acme (1998) 5.5/10

Sideways Soul (1999) - with Dub Narcotic Sound System

Boss Hog: Whiteout (2000) 6/10

Plastic Fang (2002) 5/10

Damage (2004) 5/10

Meat + Bone (2012) 5/10

Spencer Sings the Hits (2018) 5/10

   The roots and spirit of good ol' rock'n'roll are rarely as abused and accentuated than by the works of Jon Spencer. Similar to the Rolling Stones, Spencer both honors and distorts the heritage of rock music by exaggerating the fundamentals of Elvis Presley with a surplus of aggression and dissonance. As a frontmen of both the Blues Explosion and Pussy Galore, Spencer conducted a style of punk-blues that satisfied both the belligerent nastiness of the underground as well as the commercial danceability of post-punk and new wave. 

   In 1987, guitarist Neil Michael Hagerty would also form the Royal Trux, a band which would deconstruct rock music even further than Spencer would dare.

   Plastic Fang was aptly titled, since the garage-blues ferocity of the band had by then descended into the same smoothed-out "plastic" sound that had befallen the Rolling Stones in the 1980s. 

   But Plastic Fang still Rocks. Or at least, it tries to. It Rocks enough to be surprisingly enjoyable despite the lack of any real climax or memorability. 

   Spencer Sings the Hits contains underwhelming riffs through a nonetheless charismatic sound. The cheesy yelps of Spencer may be tired and contrived by now, but he still projects the energy of a typical Jon Spencer song. So, your love for Spencer's vocals is a factor into whether or not this album is worthwhile. 

   Although if you are a hater of Spencer's voice, the album is not unlistenable. The production is virtually the same as that of Meat + Bone, meaning the garage-rock + punk-blues + pseudo-funk come with the meat + bone.