BLUES EXPLOSION - DAMAGE!

I don\'t need no goddamn press release to tell you about the band formerly known as Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (who have shortened their name to simply \"Blues Explosion\"). And I don\'t need no glossy photos or slick-as-fuck packaging (although, the new album\'s slick packaging was designed by Chip Kidd) to win me over. All I need, friend, is the music.

Damage! came as a total and utter shock to me, as the Blues Explosion is one of my all-time favorite bands, and I hadn\'t heard they were releasing a new album, or that they had moved from Matador to Sanctuary Records. But who fucking cares, y\'all? Because I got the new blues!

Produced by a plethora of different producers, Damage! has the studio slickness of XTRA-ACME USA mixed with all the dirty grit of Now I Got Worry. It\'s packed with special guests that\'ll make you wet your pants, and the music of Jon, Judah, and Russell is tighter than a ten-year-old girl and harder than a 13-year-old boy.

Opening with the title track, \"Damage\", we are given a dose of early JSBX-style screaming, all produced by the Blues Explosion\'s sexiest drummer, Russell Simins. \"Spoiled\" is one of the goddamn sexiest tunes I\'ve ever heard. Produced by David Holmes (who, for those that don\'t know, supplied almost all of the music in Ocean\'s Eleven) with backup vocals from Martina Topley-Bird, this is a rare, mellow track for the band.

Then comes \"Hot Gossip.\" Quite possibly the first true political message ever delivered by a band that is primarily known for yelling and having a good time, this song single-handedly makes the album worth it. It\'s a veritable scream/rap tag-team event between Jon and the legendary Chuck D. From the opening lyric, \"Baby, what are you gonna do? / There\'s a war going on... now / And they\'re blaming it on you... and me,\" you know this is a different take from the band, and it borders the Public Enemy/Anthrax team up \"Bring Tha Noize\". It also kicks more ass than an abusive husband. I\'d love to hear more stuff like this from them in the future.

Of course, everything mentioned above is just the first five songs. I haven\'t even gotten into the Alan Moulder-mixed \"Mars, Arizona\", the Dan The Automator-produced \"Help These Blues\", or the DJ Shadow-helmed \"Fed Up And Low Down\". The whole album is a dirty masterpiece.

I know their last album, Plastic Fang, wasn\'t received as well as they wanted it to be (even though I dug it the most), but Damage! is a damn fine comeback to the world of the blues. And I\'m glad to have them back in my ears.