Railroad Jerk “Railroad Jerk” 1990. Matador Records. Hard-driving, catchy punk blues. “Industrial folk” according to their Discogs description. Their s/t record was the first of four LP’s before disbanding around 1996. We saw Railroad Jerk open for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in ’95 (I think) at the Barrymore in Madison. I have no idea what tracks they performed 30 years ago but likely one or two from this record. The weird “Krismus Time” is the most JSBX-like (though it predates that band) and the band’s “theme song” – “Talking RR Jerk Blues” – comes in a close second with a slow head-banging groove, harmonica and disjointed melodies; just replace singer/guitarist Marcellus Hall’s nasaly vocals with Spencer’s deeper yelp ‘n growl and it could totally have been on one JSBX’s early LP’s. My top tracks are the first two on Side 1 “Don’t Be Jealous” and “Old Mill Stream” (catchy, bluesy punk) and one Side 2 the killer ass-shaking “Participant.”

For whatever reason, Railroad Jerk isn’t really available broken down by tracks (except for “Talking RR Jerk Blues”) but you can listen to the entire album here and there a full show recording from a 1990 show at the Pyramid Club in New York City where they perform several songs from the album including “Don’t Be Jealous,” “99 Miles,” “Old Mill Stream,” “Participant,” “Glamorous Bitch,” “Krismus Time,” “Talking RR Jerk Blues,” and “I’m Not Mad.”