As I stood there in the audience looking up at Jon Spencer and his black hair, whose sheer colour suggests it may have been modified to be that way, I wondered to myself: “Has any human being in the history of mankind said the words Blues Explosion as many times as Jon Spencer?”.
Not just the word blues or explosion independently, and not in a different order like “explosion blues”, but specifically “Blues Explosion”. Whether saying the name of his band, telling audiences the name of his band between songs, or the numerous lyrical references to the fabled words, it’s hard to imagine anyone else having ever had a reason to say those words as much as he has.
I wonder if he mutters “Blues Explosion” in his sleep. I wonder if he ever sleeps at all. I can understand why he loves the word combination; there’s a certain grandiosity about the way the words sound together, particularly with the strong emphasis on the “ooze” in blues. This appreciation of the power of pronunciation, and his record breaking Blues Explosion proclamations are two of many reasons why Jon Spencer is a living legend.
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The last time I saw JSBX was in 2012 at a festival in the UK curated by Neutral Milk Hotel’s Jeff Mangum, where they had been handpicked by Jeff to play. I don’t remember much of the set, but that had more to do with my physical state than the performance itself. All I remember is shouting ‘Bellbottoms’ between songs a lot hoping that they’d play it, my pelvis awaiting the opportunity to thrust when it did. Alas, they did not play it. I remembered enough to know I liked it, and this time I was doing it sober.
For 24 years now, JSBX have been releasing their own take on blues rock, a genre that manages to perpetually be simultaneously in and out of fashion. Though you can’t argue that the blues are at the heart of everything this three piece have ever produced, it’s their weird outlook on the genre that distinguishes this act from your standard meat & potatoes act.
Sure, there’s an inevitable distorted harmonica that makes an appearance at one point, but to see Jon Spencer slow-spank the air in front of his Theremin as the rest of the band plays on is a sight to behold.
Whether it’s Beck, The Beastie Boys, Steve Albini or Elliott Smith, JSBX are no strangers to collaborations with unexpected artists yet have a sound so distinct you can pick out one of their songs in a couple of seconds.
Looking around the crowd, I wondered who the hell even listens to JSBX anymore. They’ve built their career on confounding expectations and since they became operational again after their six-year hiatus, which ended in 2010, the responses to their subsequent releases has been relatively muted.
Their latest album 'Freedom Tower – No Wave Dance Party 2015' is as fun and upbeat as its title suggests. Jon Spencer is an incredible showman, rarely stationary for a second and taking any instrumental moment to step out onto his monitors and survey the crowd. A mismatched bunch of 30 & 40 something men attempt to dance to the frequently changing rhythms that the band fly through as though that’s how the blues always was.
They fly through songs from their abundant back catalogue as though being paid by the title, turning the encore into a sort of relentless medley that throws in parts of songs like the intro to ‘Bellbottoms’ then moves on before you have a chance to relax. It may not have been the whole song, but I’ll take it.
The set ended as suddenly as it started, with Judah Bauer shaking audience hands before leaving the stage, and to be frank, there’s only so much Blues Explosion that my mind can take in one go.
However, the audience is beaming with satisfied faces, even those Brylcreamed types who looked as though the only reason they turned up was because there was 'Blues' in the title.
Jon Spencer somehow manages to stick out as an oddball now more than ever before, and that’s what these people love him for. Whether it’s his unapologetic vulgarity, his carefree attitude or those moments of 12 bar that surface periodically in the music, it feels kind of comforting to know that this 50-year-old man is still out there making this kind of music.
For me though, it’s the way the words Blues Explosion sound together when you say them out loud. “Blues Explosion.”
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