Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

[vi5]

Man, I wonder if this guy is pissed that the White Stripes and a few other bands are making money off of a watered down version of his shtick? I was listening to Orange today and realized what a great album it was.

[bhunt70]

1. I love John Spencer Blues Explosion and Boss Hog too

Absolutely great band, saw them in Atlanta years ago and he step on my friends hand while playing, stopped the show to ask him if he was ok, got a "yeah" and then started up again.

One of my favorites.

[RandomKoolzip]

2. I hated that guy....

That band was awful. Okay riffs, but no melody, and the lyrics were mostly JS screaming "Blues explosion!!!" every fifth word. Excrement.

The only reason people liked JSBE is because gullible girls thought he was hot.

[vi5]

3. I don't know.....I'm neither gullible nor a girl....

But I dug their first couple of albums quite a bit.

As for melody, I've been humming a few of the tunes all day so there must be something there.

I can see people thinking he's annoying as hell. But I enjoyed the whole routine for what it was worth.

And to be honest with you it made me nostalgic for that time period of the early to mid-90's where there were bands on bigger labels getting press and radio play who were totally weird and out there, whether I liked them or not (example: the Melvins...hate the band but loved the fact that they convinced a major label to let them make 3 albums and get mtv to play their video).

Now the only bands that qualify in that category are shameless retreads of other things.

[Intelsucks]

4. I thought the Melvins sucked as well

I bought one of their CD's once, and took it back for store credit on something else. It did absolutely nothing for me.

[vi5]

5. Yeah, but I respected their weirdness.....

..and how far it took them. There are a lot of bands who I can't stand but who I don't begrudge them success because what they are or were doing was so far out there from the "norm".

[Forkboy]

9. You can't judge the Melvins by any one CD

Two of their releases,Honky and Prick,were just noise shit to piss off their label at the time and finish out their contract.Try Stonerwitch or Bullhead or The Maggot.

Even then though,I admit,they are an aquired taste.

[Intelsucks]

14. I don't remember the title of that particular CD, but it was shit

with a capital "S".

[Forkboy]

15. lol,it was probably one of the two I mentioned

ah well,they're not for everyone,that's for sure :)

[RandomKoolzip]

6. Wow... we're flip sides of the same coin.....

The Melvins are unimpeachable to me, while my animosity to Spencer hides back to his Pussy Galore days. PG was TERRIBLE, like a parody of the better noise-rock bands that were around in New York in the mid 80's. Then he added a "non-ironic" ironic "blues" angle to his shtick and made a killing.

The mid-90's were indeed a grand time to be alive. Some of my favorite bands were getting signed and putting out great music: Shudder to Think, RuthRuth, Lotion, Jawbox, etc. But there was also the Smashing Pumpkins and Better than Ezra to wrestle with.....

Plus, there's nothing wrong with retreads, as long as we're retreading something I LIKE. Chuck Eddy once said something to the effect that critics were always accusing Rancid of wannabeeing the Clash, which sidesteps the point that the Clash don't get wannabeed nearly enough.

[Forkboy]

12. Is there a better song than Boris?

"I've got a small...got what they call the lack!" :)

So many of today's metal/thrash/death bands have said the Melvins were a major influence to them that it's scary.

The Melvins have a CD coming out with Jello Biafra soon (the Jelvins? :) ).And they have side projects up the ying yang,from Fantomas to Venomous Concepts to Old.Buzzo spreads the joy around!

The original Melvins bass player was Shirley Temple's daughter too!

Like I said to a poster above,the Melvins can't be judged on just one CD.But when you take thier whole body of work into consideration...holy FUCK,they are monstrous!

[vi5]

13. I dont mind retreads.....

I like Rancid. What I don't particularly care for is for retreads to be hoisted on me as something they are not, which is new and innovative. I don't have a problem with a band like the Strokes or White Stripes being successful. I'd rather hear them on the radio than mook rock nu metal.

But when I read all these articles praising any of these bands as doing something new and exciting, that is when I sort of lose it.

I wasn't a Nirvana fan, but at least Kur Cobain used his success to gain some respect, notoriety, and in some cases money for the bands that influenced him and that he ripped off.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

7. I love JSBX......

Orange and Acme are great albums. There is not any good explanation as to why I like them other than they're just FUN. Sure their playing is sloppy and JS bellows "Blues Explosion!!" a little too much for me. But I can't hold that against them, the fun-factor is just too overpowering.

Also, they're a damn sight better than Andrew W.K. And that's good enough for me.

[Whitacre D_WI]

8. Jon Spencer learned everything he knows from his time in the Gibson Bros.

Yet why does nobody call him a "watered-down" version of Don Howland and Jeff Evans? Hmmm?

:shrug:

[Forkboy]

10. The first two releases are awesome

The self titled first release and Extra Width.Orange and ACME are good but starting to repeat too much of the other stuff for me,though both have a handful of fantastic songs.

Check out the band Boss Hog.It's JS with his wife singing,and it's great!

[bobthedrummer]

11. We covered "Soul Typecast"!

The jams with R.L. Burnside are cool too.