Jon Spencer

Spencer Sings The Hits!

Debut solo album from the fuzz king. In a world of identikit wannabes, we should thank the universe for the rare one-offs out there. And they truly broke the mould when they made Jon Spencer.

With his instantly recognisable take on garage blues-rock with a hint of Elvis, this debut solo album carries on the lineage of his previous bands Pussy Galore, Boss Hog, Heavy Trash and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: deceptively simple, fabulously rough-edged, drenched in distortion and punctuated with feedback, it’s all-American cool personified. Who else, after all, could make a song about kicking a trash can sound sexy and dangerous without even seeming to try.

As you’d expect from the album’s droll title, there’s a tongue-in-cheek bravado at work, with strutting boast-track

I Got The Hits and preening closer Cape displaying their plumage like amorous parrots, while lines that would be laughable in less competent hands (‘Baby baby I’m a ghost. Baby baby I’m…spooky! Ghost!’) instead become mesmerising thanks to the charisma and absolute confidence they’re presented with.

Still scuzzy, still weird, long may Jon Spencer walk his own unique path.