In 1992, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion inked a deal with Caroline Records and requested a very specific signing bonus-- the then-new 10xCD Jerry Lee Lewis box set. Two years later, when the band jumped ship to Matador, they asked for the 9xCD Stax-Volt Complete Singles 1959-1968. As band lore has it, Caroline never sprang for the set, and the Blues Explosion's tenure there was short-lived and acrimonious. Matador, on the other hand, made good with Stax, and the band enjoyed a decade-long partnership with the label. Business relations aside, these two signing requests neatly signal the musical differences between the band's first few releases as well as between the latest installments in this ongoing reissue series. Year One, which collects on one disc the band's first three releases-- all from 1991 and '92, hence the title-- is the Blues Explosion at their most explosive, thundering through nearly 40 tracks with the devil-may-care insouciance of the Killer in his prime. They even cover Lewis' "Lovin' Up a Storm" and roll in a few measures of "Great Balls of Fire".

Year One is the noisiest, most abrasive, and most alienating collection the Blues Explosion has released, for better or for worse. The energy is there. So are the smarts. So is the general concept. But the band is still in its infancy, so its still figuring out how to translate those three primary qualities into music. Spencer hollers and howls like a Tex Avery cartoon, while Russell Simins bludgeons his drums and Judah Bauer punishes his guitar, and together they generate a volatility that's recognizably JSBX. Yet, songs like "Comeback" and "Maynard Ave." fidget uncomfortably and never really get moving. In general, they sound unfocused and undisciplined, which means that at 38 tracks, Year One can be a long, hard album to take in.

Still, there are so many moments when everything falls into place, when the band sounds all the more boisterous and uncontrollable-- all the more revelatory 19 years later-- for being so ragged and rough. Especially as Year One moves into the material the band recorded with Steve Albini, the music gets messier, more aggressive, more reckless: They light up "History of Sex" like Lewis setting fire to a piano, while "40 Lb Block of Cheese" shows the band at its most genially wacky. Best of all may be "Mo' Chicken-Let's Get Funky", which lives up to its title as soon as Simins comes in at double time. They speed through the Hound Dog Taylor cover just a little more rapidly than necessary, as if they can barely keep the song under control.

Tracklist:
1. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Twenty Nine (2:02)
2. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Typecast (1:36)
3. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Water Main (1:13)
4. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - History Of Sex (1:46)
5. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Rachel (2:24)
6. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Chicken Walk (2:51)
7. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Big Headed Baby (1:05)
8. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Support A Man (2:03)
9. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Lovin' Up A Storm (1:45)
10. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Comeback (3:10)
11. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - '78 Style (1:26)
12. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Changed (1:01)
13. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - White Tail (2:26)
14. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - What To Do (1:30)
15. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - 40 Lb Of Cheese (2:02)
16. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Write A Song (1:51)
17. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - I.E.V. (1:40)
18. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Exploder (1:58)
19. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - What To Do (Albini) (2:03)
20. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Eye To Eye (1:38)
21. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Eliza Jane (2:03)
22. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Maynard Ave. (1:52)
23. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - The Feeling Of Love (1:51)
24. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - The Vacuum Of Lonliness (3:00)
25. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Intro A (0:52)
26. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Biological (2:10)
27. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Water Main (Albini) (1:51)
28. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Mo' Chicken-Let's Get Funky (2:41)
29. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Like A Hawk (2:26)
30. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Kill A Man (1:51)
31. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Twenty Nine (Albini) (2:14)
32. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - History Of Sex (Albini) (1:57)
33. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Shirt Jac (1:26)
34. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Latch On (1:22)
35. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Colty (1:45)
36. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Write A Song (2:05)
37. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Smoke Cigarettes (1:34)
38. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - History Of Sex (1:46)



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