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Jon Spencer at Fitzgeralds, Chicago 2024

Jon Spencer at Fitzgeralds, Chicago 2024

It’s also possible they performed my top track on the new record, “Disconnected” which is some of the hardest, funkiest, ass-shaking tunes around currently. Also fantastic are the noisy bluesy lead track “Wrong” (the lyric “I’m sick of being sick” appears here), the extra fuzzy “Out of Place,” and the buzzy “Coulda Been.”

I’ve been streaming Sick of Being Sick! pretty much nonstop for the past week or so, waiting for my record guy to get the vinyl in. There’s a little hidden snippet at the end of Side 2 that does not appear digitally, not really a song, more like a show-closer freakout.

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“Who’s Drivin’ Your Plane?,” “Dead Again,”  “Joe’s House” (another Honeymoon Killers original – Judah play acoustic guitar and organ on this one) and “Love Is All Around” (by The Troggs) were previously released on the Sing Sing (1984 – 1994) compilation and “Murderess In A Purple Dress” appeared on the Scientists tribute album Set It On Fire!.

From the liner notes regarding Side A: “These were songs we played for Peter and Kelly’s wedding. All love songs. This was the only time we were ever a wedding band and this is part of what was going to be our wedding album. Love was in the air and we did the best we could to make the air sound like love.” Side B: “‘Who’s Driving Your Plane” was recorded during the Hung Far Low sessions. This version unreleased until now. The rest of this side is the last session and was recorded at the end of our last European tour. We had been asked to do a song for a Scientists tribute, so the session was mostly for that. I knew this would be the last and this is how it went down.”

And because I always have post at least one old photo (I don’t have that many), here’s one of Judah from 1987 taken by me at our friends’ apartment in Appleton, sorry if you’ve seen it before.

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 Jukebox Explosion: Rockin’ Mid-90s Punkers! is a compilation of mostly releases from 7″ singles and rarities from the 90’s. We have a fair number of the singles from JSBX’s Jukebox series but a few of the selections on this comp are über-rare or are totally unavailable elsewhere. That would include the tracks “Caroline” and its b-side “Curfew Blues.” The story behind these two tracks is pretty great – to quote directly from the liner notes: “Caroline” – “Independent record label Caroline was the accurately rendered subject of what was originally intended to be the A-side of Jukebox single number three. The single made it as far as the test pressing stage (only four exist) before the humorless pussies at Caroline threw a hissy fit and began to threaten the band and label with legal action. Now this sneering stomper can finally be given a proper release.” From “Curfew Blues” – “This super-charged number was the B-side to the aborted “Caroline” single. Recorded at a VPRO session during a tour of Europe. On the trip, while under the impression that it was a particularly rarified variety of European cheese, Judah happened to eat an entire bar of soap that belonged to the Devil Dogs.” (🤣🤣🧀 – you can take a boy out of Wisconsin but he’ll still look for cheese) Also of note on this comp, though not nearly as hilarious, are the tracks “Naked” (again from the liner notes: “This ultra-frantic monster was the A-side to a limited edition giveaway single, inspired by avid nudist David Yow of the Jesus Lizard, who the Blues Explosion toured with early in their career. 100 copies were pressed and given to the lucky attendees at the Blues Explosion’s Third Anniversary show at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, New Jersey), “Push Some Air” (“Side A of a rare single released in 1995 on the short-lived Brazilian label Barulho del Mal, to coincide with the band’s first tour of Brazil. The single was only available on the band’s merch table, and all copies were sold out by the second date, an outdoor show in Fortaleza. Unfortunately the majority of the pressing was warped and only a handful are presently in playable condition.”) and “Dig My Shit” (“…recorded as a backing track for a planned Blues Explosion appearance on the television program Saturday Night Live. Due to a miscommunication between the band and NBC’s representatives regarding the use of profanity, the whole performance had to be scrapped. The song was later included on an otherwise completely worthless compilation on Matador Records.”). My top tracks, which are still interesting! are “Shirt Jac” (the first In the Red jukebox series, produced by Steve Albini), “Bent” (the B-side to the second jukebox single “Son of Sam“) and “Get With It” (Jukebox single #4, recorded during the Now I Got Worry sessions).

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I saw JSBX for the first time about a month after Extra Width‘s release, on June 19th, 1993 in Madison, WI. (Thanks to the always excellent pop-catastrophe.co.uk for the exact date as my memory from 30 years ago = hazy). The club, O’Cayz Corral (long burned down), was loosely packed, mostly with friends from – or formerly from – Appleton, WI to see Judah Bauer. It was a very small venue and small show: the band wasn’t well-known at this point, especially in the Midwest.  But a bunch of Judah’s family and friends were there, including his brother Donovan, who I hung out with at the bar.  After the show Russell came over by us and was looking for a place to crash for the night so I introduced to him to a friend of mine, John W., who had an extra couch (Russell, in a whisper, “Is this guy OK, like not weird?” I assured him that John was indeed not weird). Russell stayed there and I popped over in the morning to bring breakfast and nab a copy of the new album (I’m not entirely sure why I didn’t buy one at the show) which they threw on the record player. The other recollections I have from old JSBX shows (having a few opportunities to be backstage or, in the case of the O’Cayz show: no backstage, just a little recombobulation corner) were Spencer’s extreme quiet and reserve offstage, basically looking exactly like the cover of “Extra Width,” but given the guy’s amazing stage energy and outlandish bravado, I’m guessing he saved it all for the audience. More recently with his solo/HITmakers tours, Jon has been far more outgoing and engaging, happy to pose for ridiculous selfies and sign records.

Joe, me and Jon Spencer, 2018

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Honeymoon Killers “Kansas City Milkman” 1991. Insipid Records. Sludgy noise rock from Jerry Teel (guitar/vocals; Chrome Cranks, Knoxville Girls, Little Porkchop), Jon Spencer (guitar, trombone!!!; JSBX, Pussy Galore, Boss Hog), Russell Simins (drums; JSBX, Butter O8, SERVICE) and Lisa Wells (bass, vocals; Little Porkchop). The single appears on their ’91 LP Hung Far Low. Side A’s “Kansas City Milkman” is dark and grungy, with some Ministry-esque industrial noise-rock thrown in for good measure. Side B’s “Nothin'” is less beaty, more chaotic noise rock, still really dark and sludgy. While I can’t find a link for “Nothin,'” I did find a shitty-quality concert video from a ’92 Honeymoon Killers show in Germany in which they perform a bit of “Kansas City Milkman” and instead of Jon on guitar, Judah Bauer (JSBX) is playing.

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The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion “Meat + Bone” released 10 years ago yesterday, September 18th, 2012. Pre-order from Mom + Pop Music that came with a limited edition Meat + Bone apron, which I obviously had to have, and took this photo 10 years ago when I got the package:

About the apron from an article/interview on The Agit Reader with Judah Bauer: “You’ve got to come up with stupid ideas. The apron idea was mine, and I tried to kill it. I thought it was too domestic, but it ended up happening. Maybe that’s savvy, though, because maybe our fanbase is more domesticated now…” It’s funny because it’s true and I have absolutely worn this apron to bake cookies.

Meat + Bone is JSBX’s ninth(ish) LP and, I’ll be honest, one of my less-listened to of their catalog but as a huge fan, it’s still great. The lead track “Black Mold” (which is something I’m unfortunately literally dealing with today) was “pulled…from the Damage [2005] outtakes pile” (Bauer). The rest of the tracks were written in 10 days between July and August 2012 in between Spencer’s touring with Heavy Trash and Bauer’s tour with Cat Power. The record’s title reflects the sound: just the meat and the bone, no fat, no filler: basic (but JSBX is never basic) punk blues. Besides “Black Mold” my top tracks are “Boot Cut” which is raw and funky, the bluesy, buzzy “Ice Cream Killer” and the frenetic “Danger” with its wild and pounding piano and screaming guitar. Warning: the video below for “Black Mold” is beyond disturbing.

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[Jon Spencer]

I ate scum off the street
Eat raw macaroni
Messed up in a minute
Come on now girl
You got to show me…

[Jon Spencer]

I dig your groovy hips

[Cristina Martinez]

I dig your barbecued lips

[Jon Spencer]

I dig you much and more

[Jon Spencer and Cristina Martinez]

I dig you baby and I want you to know

Besides “I Dig You,” there are three other previously unreleased tracks: “Hell Mary,” the ass-shaking rocker “Soultrap” and a cover of Wire’s excellent postpunk anthem “12XU” from their 1977 album Pink Flag which Boss Hog has slinkified and darkened with Spencer’s signature blues sound while still keeping the sharp angles of the original.

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