CD Reviews

Heavy Trash

Going Way Out with Heavy Trash | Yep Roc

By TED DROZDOWSKI | July 30, 2007

3.0 Stars

At this point, Jon Spencer’s immersion in self-parody is complete. He’s got a howl and a mumble for every song, and he’s never found a harmonica microphone he didn’t want to sing through. But in Heavy Trash he’s keeping such good company — guitar foil Matt Verta-Ray and back-up band the Sadies — that his goofball take on rocka-bluesy actually sounds cool for the ten-thousandth time. Even when he’s hiccuping his way through the lyrics of a slap-back-fired tune called “Kissy Baby” that’s so derivative it should be writing checks to “Be-Bop-A-Lula.” Hey, some things, like this album, are best left unanalyzed and simply enjoyed for their own bone-headed dedication to rockin’ out like a motherfucking banshee. Which Going Way Out does in spades and diamonds. That said, there are a couple of surprises. On “That Ain’t Right,” Spencer reins himself in a bit and delivers his hyperversion of a bad-ass Johnny Cash song — like “Delia’s Gone” before the shooting starts. And on “You Can’t Win,” he makes like a boxcar Kerouac, spinning a dirty hobo’s tale as his Trash mates sputter and twang behind him.

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Topics: CD Reviews , Johnny Cash, Jon Spencer, HEAVY TRASH

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