þ7#Ó*.XXXX b ll~êxXb ‚©*Ó©š©©Ó©©©©©©ThatÕs the Sweat The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion gets set to blow who: the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion w/R.L. Burnside & the Idle Hands when: Tuesday, April 18, 10 p.m. where: Mercury Theatre how much: $10 limited advance/$12 by Laura Atkinson About a year and a half ago one early afternoon, I was sunning myself on my worn red Fort Sanders porch with some folks in the band MDC, who had ended up crashing at my house after their show. One of them, a San Francisco native, was drinking a quart and staring mirthfully at the porch across the way, where a rumpled young guy had passed out on a ratty couch, his limp hand splayed next to a couple of toppled beer cans. ÒMan, IÕve never been to the South before,Ó he said with a grin, waving his bottle toward the slumbering lump, Òand itÕs just like I thought it would be.Ó Hmmm, maybe he took those Snuffy Smith cartoons a bit too much to heart. So when I heard that the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, New York City fellows, were coming to Knoxville, I wondered what those Big Apple boys would think about the area my own Yankee-born bones have grown to call home. Guitarist and kinetic Vegas-style front man Jon Spencer, guitarist/moodman Judah Bauer and backbeat bombaster Russell Simins have swung through town a couple times before. They've taken on the word "blues," so they must have a notion of the SouthÕs inherent raw beauty, musical and otherwise. I asked, and it turns out the "blues x men" really connect with the spirit of this part of the country. "A lot of the greatest soul music came from the South, from Tennessee, from Memphis," says Simins. "Musically it means a lot to me, but I think it means more to me in terms of the fact that itÕs kind of the real, the hardcore America. ItÕs just the most interesting part of America. ItÕs kind of the scariest part of America and also the most culturally diverse part of America. "You can just see the richness of America in the South. I see it, I feel it whenever IÕm there, and IÕm also scared by it, even considering IÕm from New York City," he says. "I think if you go to the poorest parts of any country, thereÕs always something that stands out as more interesting than other parts Õcause thereÕs something about the simplicity of life thatÕs cool." There's something about the simplicity of the Blues Explosion's music that's cool, too. It's powerful, loud, forthright, unabashed. Give their most recent release Orange a listen. It's arguably the truest rock ÕnÕ roll, in the classic sense, around right now. What the Blues Explosion isn'tÑnot exactly, anywayÑis the blues. But the sound is a perfect soulmate. "If our band has anything to do with the blues, it has to do with the spirit of the blues," Simins says. "WeÕre not really a blues band, itÕs the spirit of the blues and America, and the way that the best of the bluesÑlike Hound Dog Taylor or John Lee Hooker or Robert JohnsonÑhas this fucked up, very honest energy to it. ItÕs undeniableÑitÕs people really expressing themselves." No matter where they're playing, if you give your energy to the Blues Explosion they're going to take it in and channel it back at you twice as strong, sizzling away the boundaries between performer and audience while yanking you into their sensual melee of sound and heat. It can be a joyous experience. Like Simins says, "We've got a lot of soul, and we rock." Orange undoubtedly rocks, and its style is such that itÕs open to just about any interpretation of ÒrockinÕ.Ó A friend of mine pointed out that the album showed up on just about every celebrity hit-picker's Top Ten Best Albums You Probably Didn't Hear This Year list, even that of Aerosmith squaller Steven Tyler. Newsweek recently called Spencer one of America's new "guitar gods," noting his audacity and "decidedly unwanky" style. And an NPR reviewer, although a bit foggy with his attempts to stick the Blues Explosion sound into a contemporary American music genre, ended up gushing with praise. And itÕs not like the Blues Explosion hasnÕt made a great record before. The melodic grungebilly (to borrow a Billboard phrase) stomp of their 1992 release Xtra Width kicked tail feathers. Spencer remarked in a recent interview that the new album is the most satisfying sound-wise the groupÕs created. Maybe Orange is just the fine wine that had enough time to age. ÒI donÕt know that [Orange] turned out better. ItÕs a different record,Ó Simins says. ÒI just like it more Õcause itÕs a step up, Õcause weÕre more developedÑweÕre more in tune with our songwriting. ÒThe only change is that weÕve gotten older and perhaps better.Ó The band's just finished up a round of shows in Europe with the Beastie BoysÑan odd match at first thought, but Simins says both bands are fans of the other's musicÑso for a change of pace they've decided to fly solo for the next couple of months, scheduling dates at smaller clubs. "ItÕs nice to play in small places with a lot of people because itÕs so intimate," says Simins. Getting cheeky, he adds, "I guess we all (three) prefer the tighter, more intimate spaces É you know, more womb-like.Ó The show's openers, traditional Mississippi bluessmith R.L. Burnside and local unwanky rock ÕnÕ soulers the Idle Hands, will illustrate how many shades of blues the South has colored. ÒTell people to go see the show, itÕs something theyÕll never forget,Ó Simins says. 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