Heavy Trash, the band and the album, is a collaboration between Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray. In their day jobs they are purveyors of punk-lues in Blues Explosion and Speedball Baby, respectively. Anyone expecting their collaboration to sound much like either of their groups is in for a bit of a jolt. Not that it is a million miles from the sounds they are known for since you still get Spencer's instantly recognizable yelping vocals as well as loads of exciting, stripped-down and hooky songs that carry quite a punch. What is different is that they are working the ockabilly and early ock side of the street. Tracks like "The Loveless," "Dark Hair'd Rider" and "This Day Is Mine" kick up some serious duck-tailed dust, "The Hump" and "Justine Alright" are crazed handclapping, shouted chorus rockers, and the hip-shaking "Gatorade" sounds like it was recorded at a party in Hasil Adkins' backyard. The tracks that scale back the excitement are very good too; "Fix These Blues" is a pedal-steeled country allad, "Take My Hand," a doo-wopping lament complete with a spoken interlude and "Under the Waves," a moody, highly arranged murder allad that might be the best track on the album. Only "Mr. K.I.A." doesn't work, as it brings in some hip-hop influences and is too repetitive and, well, modern-sounding. Spencer is in top form throughout, dropping hilarious asides, hiccupping and whooping, crooning and howling like an unholy blend of Elvis, Gene Vincent and Lux Interior. He and Verta-Ray create a sound that is warm, rich and live, layering acoustic and electric guitars, percussion and Christina Campenella's sultry backing vocals into a rollicking, thrilling modern ockabilly record that puts everyone who has attempted such an enterprise since Songs the Lord Taught Us to shame. So many times with side projects like this the parting words are "don't quit your day job," in this case both men could easily do so because Heavy Trash is just as good if not better than their main projects.
The second purchase was Heavy Trash's self-titled album. I bought it based on nothing other than the fact that every inch it's sleeve is covered in Paul Pope artwork.Turns out Heavy Trash is a collaboration between Jon Spencer (He of the Blues Explosion) and Matt Verta-Ray (Madder Rose and Speedball Baby) and they deal in exactly the kind of stuff I love. These songs all fall somewhere in the v...
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All Songs Are About Fucking.I used to say all songs where about women, but that leaves plenty of straight women and gay guys out in the cold. I figure this one is a bit more inclusive, if potentially more offensive.It's true, though. Some songs are a bit more honest about it than others, but any song you can think of, at some point in the chain of logic and events that led to it, there was sex,...
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 "Heavy Trash")
