YOURZ
Led by the husband/wife team of Jon Spencer (yes, the Jon Spencer of Blues Explosion fame - see our review of Orange here) and Cristina Martinez, Boss Hog initially shot to fame because of Ms Martinez's habit of performing nude with boots (a habit she had unfortunately abandoned by the time I saw them in '95).
This self-titled major label debut is a sneer-laden rifftastic shot in the nads, where most songs clock in under the 3 minute mark. Not straying far from his day job, Spencer's typical insane blues guitar is teamed with crackin' rhythm section. He shares the occasional vocal duty with his beloved (particularly on the splendid duo I Dig You) but for the most part plays the part of dutiful guitarist.
Boss Hog is a natural evolution of the same swamp blues and psychobilly/punk attitude exemplified by The Cramps. There is even some of Lux in Spencer's falsetto delivery of I Idolize You. Mostly, this is not doing anything new but even though I haven't listened to it for some time now, it still has an undeniable energy and excitement and, most importantly, a wicked sense of fun.
VERDICT: TURN IT UP and get nuuuuude!
MINE
OK, this is too creepy... I was listening to Boss Hog for the first time while on a long car trip recently, and I thought to myself "This is what Juliette Lewis' band should sound like." A short trip to YouTube today has confirmed it for me... Juliette & the Licks sound remarkably similar to Boss Hog. (YourZ sez: well, if this is the case, then I think we should do ourselves a favour and add some to our collection - it's about as close to Juliette as I'm ever gonna get, dammit all!)
Juliette's been in my mind recently because we saw the Drew Barrymore flick Whip It (which I can highly recommend, full of roller derby gals and starring Juno's Ellen Page). It's been a while since I saw her in a movie and I know she's been concentrating on her musical career, which made me wonder what her band sounds like, and then something shiny crossed my line of sight and I forgot about it until I was listening to Boss Hog and I thought to myself... oh wait, I already said that.
Aaaanyway, YourZ has filled you in all about the band and stuff, so all I can say is, they didn't suck. Damn fun in spots. Had me nodding my head.
VERDICT: TURN IT UP
For more information: http://www.intheredrecords.com/pages/bosshog.html
Yes! Great album. I haven't heard any of their other albums but this one kicks some major butt.
ReplyDeleteOh, and getting close to Juliette Lewis has been a long-time dream of mine too.
I have heard 'Whiteout' and wouldn't mind having in the collection either (check this out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW1CDjDP7A4video - guaranteed to at least put a smile on your face, mate).
ReplyDeleteI think there's probably a shite-load of blokes who wouldn't mind getting close to Juliette, Chris. I guess we're gonna have to join a really long queue.
YourZ