BLUES EXPLOSION DAMAGE ALBUM MUTE, EMI RELEASE: OCTOBER 27, 2004 REVIEW: OCTOBER 14, 2004

After the surprisingly conventional “Plastic Fang”, it’s good to see the Blues Explosion (who’ve dropped Jon Spencer from the band name, but rest assured not from the band) back on more adventurous ground. While “Damage” isn’t on par with the band’s strongest trio of albums, “Orange”, “Now I Got Worry” and “Acme”, it’s at least close in spirit. Jon Spencer still alternates between lonely puppy yelps and wounded werewolf howls, and the host of producers alternately drag the music through multiple echo chambers and drown it in fuzzy rock’n’roll abandon.
“Damage” is however not flawless. “Crunchy” is rock so ordinary and rootsy that it belongs on a pub stage, “Hot Gossip” is guested by a surprisingly tired-sounding Chuck D, and the overall feel is that the band have lost a little of their edge. And above all, I wish they’d utilized no wave icon James Chance’s mighty squealing jazz punk saxophone on a couple of more tracks than “Fed up and Low Down”.

KRISTOFFER NOHEDEN