PRESS/REVIEWS/ARTICLES/ETC. > JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION VIEW: OTHER ARTISTS / PUSSY GALORE Jon Spencer Blues Explosion/Blues Explosion > ARTICLES/PRESS VIEW: ENTRIES WITH COVERS ONLY Michael Lavine / Thurston Moore - Grunge (BOOK, UK) COVER ONLY 2009.09.02 Mojo: Jukebox Explosion Rockin' Mid-90s Punkers [SCAN] (PRESS, UK) SCAN: "While the blues is the dominant element of Jon Spencer's famed Explosion, traces of punk, funk, hip hop and garage rock also pepper their mushroom cloud of riffs and backbeat." 2007.10.00 NME: Jukebox Explosion Rockin' Mid-90s Punkers [45 Words] (PRESS, UK) FULL TEXT: "The Blues Explosion have spent the past 16 years blazing their own trail through old-school rhythm and booze. This  is punk rock as God intended it: shouty, bloody loud and sounding like it was recorded live in a seedy back street bar full of narcotics. 8/10" 2007.10.27 MOJO: The DFA Remixes Chapter One [SCAN] (PRESS, UK) SCAN: Short review of the DFA remix album. 2006.04.00 The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (BOOK, US) COVER ONLY 2006.00.00 Don't Look Back (PRESS, UK) Booklet for the Don't Look Back shows featuring a page on the performance of Orange by Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. 2005.09.21 NME: Crunchy [REVIEW] [78 Words] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: ""Sock it to me!" yaps Jon Spencer in this ludicrously libidinous exercise in good-time bar-room boogie, stuffed to the gills with Hammond organs and honky-tonk joannas and packing the kind of irresistible groove"" 2005.04.23 Benjamin Nugent - Elliott Smith and the Ballad of Big Nothing (PRESS, US) COVER ONLY: Book on Elliott Smith featuring a few mentions of the Blues Explosion (and a good Simins/Simmons error). 2004.10.14 Mojo: Damage [REVIEW] [SCAN] (PRESS, UK) SCAN: "Damage! also retains Blues Explosion's trademark sweat-drenched feel for soul, proving neither identity is a total schtick" 2004.10.00 93 Feet East [SCAN] (PRESS, UK) SCAN: "It must rankle a little. Jon Spencer has been wrangling with his brand of the blues - extrovert, down-and-dirt, pinched by punk and acknowledging a debt to Little Richard and Carl perkins as much as Hasil Adkins and Son House - for around 14 years now." 2004.08.00 X-Ray: Label of Love (PRESS, UK) SCAN: Article about Matador Records mentions Extra Width by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. 2003.12.00 N.Y.C. Rock (BOOK, UK) "Originally hailing from Washington, DC, and relocating to New York in the 1980s, Pussy Galore was a no-wave-influenced outfit that for five years terrified club audiences with a noise-rock assault that took no prisoners." 2003.01.31 Chip Kidd & Jon Spencer - The Genesis of the Plastic Fang [SCAN] (PRESS, US) SCAN: Comic / Interview 2002.10.00 Record Collector: Plastic Fang [Review] [SCAN] (PRESS, UK) SCAN 2002.04.00 Intro: Interview [1500 Words] (PRESS, GERMANY) TEXT: Interview in German. 2002.04.00 Live XS: Cover / Article (PRESS, NETHERLANDS) PRESS 2002.04.00 NME: She Said Review [SCAN] (PRESS, UK) SCAN: Short review of She Said. 2002.03.23 NME: Fuji LA's (Summer Sonic review) [50 Words] (PRESS, UK) Very brief mention of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. 2000.08.20 NME: The Seditionary Position [80 Words] (PRESS, UK) "Self-reference is the way of the walk with Jon Spencer. Perhaps now erring on the side of pantomime - too much silver-suit, too little rock - the Blues Explosion testify to their own inspiration (themselves), and indeed their own perspiration." 2000.08.12 Record Collector: Article/Discography [5000 Words] (PRESS, UK) EXTENSIVE ARTICLE (TEXT) "I think people get confused by the word 'blues' in the name of the band. I intended the name to be something flippant or crude - a crazy name for a band y'know, and like I said, some people get tripped up by the word blues, and others get confused by the different influences in the music. The old music particularly, like blues, rockabilly, country, rhythm and blues or soul music. Everybody in the Blues Explosion listens to a lot of music. That comes through in what we write." 2000.04.00 Mojo: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion [850 Words] (PRESS, UK) FULL TEXT: ""We have to keep stressing that!" he explains. "Our records are all about the three of us - we love music, all different kinds of music, and when we get together to play, that stuff seeps through. The only element we really take from the blues is that we play from what we know, from where we're coming from; it's real, it's not pretence." 1999.11.00 Seven Years Of Plenty [Red] (BOOK, UK) CHAPTER ON JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION (TEXT): "Step forward Jon Spencer, the most unlikely candidate for a Nobel peace price since Henry Kissinger. Spencer’s rejection of the destructive impulses that were the very lifeblood of his legendary New York guitar hate-posse Pussy Galore in favour of an evangelical new traditionalism is dealt with at greater length later." 1999.10.31 Select: Acme-Plus [Review] [200 Words] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "As was revealed in Select's recent feature on B-sides (July) those with relentless quality control end up victims of their own success. Bonus tracks for singles can turn out as minor classics and victims of the timeless pub observation, "should have been on the album"." 1999.10.00 NME: Acme-Plus [Review] [320 Words] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "Like being smashed repeatedly about the head with a drumstick, the Blues Explosion method is not subtle and after some time it starts to hurt. While most of the world is still recovering from last year's belligerent 'Acme' opus..." 1999.09.11 NME: Reading Festival [Review] [34 Words] (PRESS, UK) FULL TEXT: "2115 Blues Explosion! Blues Explosion! Blues Explosion! It's The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion! Er, let's do that again. And again... For 45 minutes. The same song, over and over. It must get boring for them." 1999.09.04 Xtra Acme USA [Press Release] [620 Words] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "XTRA ACME USA consists of outtakes and remixes from the most recent BLUES EXPLOSION studio album, Acme. This set of stripped-down funk, blues, and rock 'n' roll is more diverse than the tracks chosen for the album, with more excursions into scratches, beats and samples, and featuring a wide array of sidemen and producers." 1999.09.00 Magnet: Acme Releases [280 Words] (PRESS, US) ARTICLE TEXT: "Jon Spencer Blues Explosion really takes its collector fans seriously..." 1999.08.00 NME: Bowlie Weekender [Review] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "The hot rock has arrived. Despite the intensive drugs/alcohol/clean pjamas/pure evil door searches, true malevolence has slipped into this paradise, and it's name is The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. " 1999.05.01 The Drum Media: Cover/Feature (PRESS, AUS) COVER/ARTICLE TEXT: "To Spencer’s mind the best music has always governed by instinct, mad grace and honesty to the point of crudity it necessary. Give him Bo Diddley in his Black Gladiator guise, the spirit woven through the Crypt label's Sin Alley or Desperate Rock n' Roll series of filthy arsed garage R and B or Iggy Pop with those flame jewel eyes in the Stooges' Funhouse era." 1999.03.30 NME: Talk About The Blues [Review] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "The tale of this is as follows. Jon Spencer talks about the blues In fact, he talks about it a hell of a lot. Primarily to journalists, y'know Rolling Stone..." 1999.03.06 Guitar Player: Ear Candy (PRESS, US) TEXT: "Spencer's lo-fi sound begins with a no-name Japanese solid-body his wife picked up a few years ago for $17, and a 100-watt Sunn 2x12 combo. While recording one of the album trackis with producer Steve Albini, however, Spencer fell in with the scruffy glory of a custom CMI 2x10 combo." 1999.02.00 NME: Albums of The Year 1998 (PRESS, UK) COMPLETE TEXT: "43, ACME - Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (Mute). In which New York's coolest export finally unearthed the real blues that he always aspired to. Snake-hipped and curled of lip, "Acme" brought a genre up to date by lavishing it with garage roughness and some touching melodies. Raw like sirloin and equally as juicy. Welcome them back..." 1998.12.19 NME: On The Couch (PRESS, UK) "What song describes you best? "I don't know who it's by, but there's this song and its refrain goes, "Crazy mixed-up kid". If it came out at all it was probably in the '50s. It's a blues song. And also the theme from Star Trek. But not that new one." 1998.12.05 Spin: Dial 'D' For Drum Machine [700 Word Article] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "Doing a record in this manner is ordinarily something I'd have no interest in, but I have a lot of respect for the way the Blues Explosion do things. My fundamental perspective is that if something sounds good and is representative of what the band is about, you need a pretty compelling reason to fuck around with it. Records I've recorded have been remixed by others, and the results are always unflattering." 1998.12.00 CMJ New Music Monthly: Acme Blues Explosives, INC [1130 Words] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "The group recorded slowly, trying to involve lots of different people, to recapture the diverse feel of the Experimental Remixes EP that followed Orange. The trio recorded the basic tracks with Steve Albini (and a couple with Calvin Johnson at Dub Narcotic), figuring Albini's minimalist style would capture strong songs no remixer could completely ruin. " 1998.12.00 NME: Shepherds Bush Empire - Live Review (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "Judah Bauer is on top of a speaker, trailing a riff as rude and sinuous as a torn-cat. Russell Simins is stooped like a deranged hunchback, battering out his pithy three-drum tattoo. Jon Spencer, meanwhile is running up and down the stage with his arms in the air, yelling, "YEEEEAAUH!"..." 1998.12.12 Select: Acme [Review] / Russell Simins - Have You Ever (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "As a result, 'Acme' is the most current-sounding album you're likely to hear from this lot. While staying to true to JSBX's righteous heritage in rock'n'roll and (lest we forget) the blues, it's also their most funky, with Spencer and Judah Bauer's twin-guitar methodology re-routed from their punk-inspired past to something more danceable." 1998.11.00 Vice: I Cannot Play The Blues: The Rock 'n' Roll Fireball... [1000 Words] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "...the gigantic ball of fire screamed its way south, directly over my head. It turned out to be a meteor; it landed close to Buffalo, or maybe in Buffalo, or on Buffalo. At any rate, I was shocked." 1998.11.00 Rolling Stone: Random Notes/Track x Track (PRESS, US) TEXT: "Bernie's a friend from the scene, man. He follows us from show to show, flying all over the country. He's a powerful executive at IBM or 3M or something - big, strong-looking guy and a real music fan." 1998.11.00 Paper: Acme Review (PRESS, US) TEXT: "On Automator-helmed tracks such as "Talk About The Blues" and "Attack," both the vocals and the guitars are processed like samples and served up as aural garnishes to a pungent groove." 1998.11.00 Interview/Maxim/Madamoiselle: Acme Review (PRESS, US) TEXT: Three short reviews of Acme.  1998.11.00 Detour: Blues Travellers (PRESS, US) TEXT: "This is rock-and-roll. here's elements from the blues, and from country, and rap, but the spirit is from rock-and-roll. I'm talking about early rock-and-roll-like Little Richard and Elvis. It comes from the idea that music should be truly shocking. That spirit, that energy of music, is what influences us." 1998.11.00 Alternative Press: Building A Better Explosion [500 Word Article] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "Alec Empire and [the Automator] Dan Nakamura worked together on the song "Attack." Judah and Russell described it as a real battle. They were doing things simultaneously, and the volume was ear-splitting and neither of them would pause to five the other a chance to check out what the other had done." 1998.11.00 Alternative Press [500 Word Acme Review/Interview] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "For Acme, Spencer - who's been producing his bands' music since the days of Pussy Galore - wanted to open up the recording process to see how giving others free reign would affect his songs." 1998.11.00 NME: Winona Stars in Blues Explosion Vid [NEWS] (PRESS, UK) "I think that people are really going to be surprised when they see the acting on the part of the Blues Exploison. When people get a load of some of the heavy, dramatic, really very intense scenes that we pulled out from our souls, I think people are really going to be blown away." 1998.10.24 NME: Acme [Review] / Blast Rites [2000 Words] (PRESS, UK) Acme: The party up there in the Chicago studios was clearly a good one - if you like rock'n'roll charades, that is. Albini has recorded it in appropriately bone-raw style..."/Blast Rites: "We need to put on a show. I'd be fucking bored, man, it's boring just standing there - doo de doo de doo - we like to put on a show! I think we all like showmen, like music that really gets across..."  1998.10.17 Acme [Press Release] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "Acme was recorded and mixed by a multi-hued assortment of characters at six different studios throughout the early part of 1998, and boasts legendary rapper/rocker Andre Williams as executive producer. The sheer variety of participants shoehorned into its freaky grooves is mindboggling." 1998.10.00 Select: Sideways Soul / Bust Feature (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "At least Jon Spencer, whose 'Blues Explosion Attack' is a rocking call to arms, mucks around in style. Which is what Selector Dub Narcotic is all about." 1998.08.00 NME: London Kings Cross Water Rats [Review] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "It's not - thank the Lord - that they're a joke band, although the jokes they have are just fine: Spencer ricocheting backwards like his guitar has just made a grab for his groin, the ungainly Theremin squalls, the bourbon-flavoured adrenalin hit of 'Afro', the splendidly stupid 'Sweat' with nothing in its head but some cool 45s and a bottle of beer." 1998.07.25 Rolling Stone [800 Word Interview] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "I didn't play guitar until college. My first guitar - I think I traded something for it. I don't remember what, but I got it off a friend of mine in college, freshman or sophomore year. I had a banjo when I was growing up." 1998.05.28 Seven Years Of Plenty [White] (BOOK, UK) CHAPTER ON JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION (TEXT): "Step forward Jon Spencer, the most unlikely candidate for a Nobel peace price since Henry Kissinger. Spencer’s rejection of the destructive impulses that were the very lifeblood of his legendary New York guitar hate-posse Pussy Galore in favour of an evangelical new traditionalism is dealt with at greater length later." 1998.00.00 NME: Mean Fiddler [Review] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "Tonight, however, the pleasure is in the immediacy of the moment. It's in the manic energy, in the feverish enthusiasm, in the provocative, pulsating rhythm. Right now there is no choice other than to succumb and, rather embarrassingly, start shouting, 'Yayuh!'. Because Jon Spencer, baybuh, he feels sooooo good. And by now, so does everybody else." 1997.09.06 NME: Reading Festival [Review] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "tha' bahloooozily bedevilled threesome JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION churn out the kind of commited show reminiscent of say, Beck at Glastonbury. Big shouting. Big guitar. Very Big balls." 1997.08.30 Melody Maker: Reading Festival [Review] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "...as Jon shrieks: "I'm a man" while actually looking for far more like a monkey, it strikes me that The Blues Explosion are basically just Reef with badly tuned guitars." 1997.08.30 NME: Tibetan Freedom Concert [Review] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "Spencer's full-moon yowl and his band's feedback'n'corn liquor shtick can sound impressive, even faintly dangerous, in a more enclosed space." 1997.06.21 Vox: Wail [Review] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "I like, though. It's got a lot of energy, but I'd still rather play an Elvis original. You can't beat the real thing, can you, eh? I should know, I'm in a three-man Beatles tribute band." 1997.06.00 Vox: Mo' Bitter Blues [2000 Words] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "We can’t get the Blues Explosion onto commercial radio in the US. We’re okay with college radio and we tour all over to sold-out houses, but commercial radio are simply not ready for us." / "It's not really a deep kind of music, it’s the lowest of the low, but we're the best at it." 1997.05.00 Melody Maker: The Sex-Philes (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "Yeah, I feel special" deadpans Jon. "It's great being in a band and it's great that band is The Blues Explosion. People treat is like royalty and that's what we are. We're the kings of rock'n'roll." 1997.05.17 Melody Maker: Sex Marks The Spot (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "...an acre of New York attitude bordering on the bad-tempered, a fondness for tiny fitted shirts and the most outrageously libidinous, funky, f***ed-up take on the blues ever to have erupted out of two battered guitars and a drum kit." 1996.12.21 Details: Funky Big White Noise [2100 WORDS] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "Growing up in the '70s in Hanover, New Hampshire, Jon Spencer was a polite kid too scared to watch horror movies. ten years after that, he was a Brown dropout living in Washington, D.C., with his band, Pussy Galore watching trash movies and horror films all night long." 1996.12.00 Select: Now I Got Worry [Review...sort of] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "The blues are real - depressing like life. And I like the 'exploison' bit of the name," he says of 'Now I Got Worry' by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (Mute), a murky shrapnel-dart of primal hollering..." 1996.10.00 NME: Idol Fret [NIGW Review] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "Jon Spencer may well still be the hellzapoppin' king of the Euro-festival live circuit, perspiring his way through two-hour sets of righteous blues redemption, but here, minus the glitz'n'guts presentation, these graveyard smashes sound not a little lost." 1996.09.28 NME: Primordal 'Ooze [550 Word Live Review] (PRESS, UK) TEXT: "At which point, Spencer loses the plot completely. Chucking his guitar to the floor, he paces the stage, kicks his mike stand into the crowd and attacks a hapless photographer. Then, turning to his Theremin, he flicks the switch, does his kung-fu posturing and jumps on the drumkit - all the time bellowing, "My father was Sister Ray." 1996.08.10 BB Gun: 9:30 Club [Live review] (PRESS, US) TEXT:  "EVERY BAND, IN THE, ON THE PLANET SHOULD PACK IT IN!!! Starting w/openers Soul Coughing."  1995.00.00 NME: Experimental Remixes [REVIEW] / Independent  LPs (PRESS, UK) SCAN:  "Weirdly, this is a remix album that's actually better than the original. It's more varied, it's got more depth and Spencer should take it home and listen to it a lot before he plots his next move."  1995.06.03 Melody Maker: Top 30 Independent Singles Chart (PRESS, UK) CHART From 3rd June 1995 showing Experimental Remixes.  1995.06.03 Gravy: Cover/Interview (PRESS, UK) COVER ONLY (although links to a scan of  the article hosted online at the official Gravy Zine website) 1994.09.00 Thicker: Cover/Interview (PRESS, US) INTERVIEW/ARTICLE (TEXT/): "When the smoke from the break-up of Pussy Galore cleared to reveal Jon Spencer’s new project, the Blues Explosion, a lot of people didn’t quite know what to think. Blues? What could these city kids possibly know about blues? Well, after a couple of years on the live circuit, the Explosion have left many a believer in their wake." 1994.08.00 Fiz [#5]: All Roads Lead To Spencer: A Historic Look At... [3400 Words] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "Fiz: So, you've say that it was definitely worth it to search out the various version of the record? Jon: I mean, if you have to buy one, buy the Crypt record - it's our record. I'll tell you, the Caroline record has the horn section, and it's the one that has the Theremin." 1993.03.00 Bad Vibe: Head Explosion Part II [2800 Word Feature] (PRESS, US) TEXT: "Spencer writhes about, possessed by Presley during the amazing "Vacuum of Loneliness" - his tortured soul dragged over shards o' glass for all to see. The wailin' theremin spits out sound and adds to the cathartic confusion. If this is real and not theatre, I'm disturbed..." 1993.00.00 Alright #2: Live Reviews/Son of Sam (PRESS, US) TEXT: "The Blues Explsoion is the greatest rock and roll band in the world right now. their drummer Russell hits his midget drum kit so hard that you would think it was his father. Judah Bauer is the perfect Mick Taylor Meets A Clean Neil Hagerty and what can I say about Jon that hasn't been said a thousand times before?" 1993.02.00 Jon Spencer Blues Explosion/Blues Explosion > COVERS ONLY This is a list of publications known to have features, reviews, interviews, etc. with/on the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion although the entries only contain images of the covers. If anyone can offer scans of the content please contact the site. JUMP TO THE TOP OF PAGE We Never Learn: The Gunk Punk Undergut, 1988-2001 (BOOK, US) COVER ONLY 2010.06.01 I Have Fun Everywhere I Go (BOOK, US) COVER ONLY 2008.05.13 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die [2008] (BOOK, UK) COVER ONLY 2008.10.15 The Peel Sessions (BOOK, UK) COVER ONLY 2007.11.04 PulpHope (BOOK, US) COVER ONLY 2007.06.25 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die [HARDBACK] (BOOK, US) COVER ONLY 2007.02.07 21st Century Rock [BOX] (BOOK, UK) IMAGE ONLY 2006.00.00 Chip Kidd: Book One / Work: 1986 - 2006 [PAPERBACK] (BOOK, US) COVER ONLY 2005.11.00 1001 Albums: You Must Hear Before You Die [2005] (BOOK, UK) COVER ONLY 2005.10.05 Chip Kidd: Book One / Work: 1986 - 2006 [HARDCOVER] (BOOK, US) COVER ONLY 2005.09.00 The Art Of Modern Rock... (BOOK, US) COVER ONLY 2004.11.01 21st Century Rock (BOOK, UK) COVER ONLY 2004.00.00 The Big Fat One: The Collected Sketchbooks of Coop (PRESS, US) COVER ONLY 2002.10.00 Guitar Player: Cover/Feature (MAGAZINE, US) COVER ONLY 2002.06.00 Rock & Folk: Cover/Feature (MAGAZINE, CANADA) COVER ONLY 2002.04.00 Jews Who Rock (BOOK, US) COVER ONLY: 'Jews Who Rock' which includes Judah Bauer and Russell Simins (of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion). 2001.01.00 Rock Sound: Cover / Article (PRESS, ITALY) COVER ONLY 1999.05.00 Option Reader: We Rock So You Don't Have To (BOOK, UK) COVER ONLY 1999.03.23 Guitarist [INTERVIEW] (PRESS, UK) COVER ONLY 1999.03.01 Band Score (BOOK, JAPAN) COVER ONLY 1999.00.00 Maximum Ink (PRESS, US) COVER ONLY 1998.12.10 - 1999.01.13 Magnet: Cover (PRESS, US) COVER ONLY 1997.07.00 Alternative Press: Cover/Feature (PRESS, US) COVER ONLY 1996.12.00 The Rocket: Cover/Feature (PRESS, US) COVER ONLY 1996.10.12 Bent: Cover/Feature (PRESS, US) COVER ONLY 1994.12/11 Gravy: Cover/Interview (PRESS, UK) COVER ONLY (although links to a scan of  the article hosted online at the official Gravy Zine website) 1994.09.00 FILPSIDE: Cover/Feature (PRESS, US) COVER ONLY 1993.02.00