Review
Jon Spencer
Spencer Sings The Hits!

In The Red (2018) Kevin Fitzpatrick

Jon Spencer – Spencer Sings The Hits! cover artwork
Jon Spencer – Spencer Sings The Hits! — In The Red, 2018

Garage rock is a term that no longer gets a lot of usage - dissipating into the ether after the resurgence and seeming demise of the genre around the mid-00s. The thing is, it never died. We just forgot where to look. And when it comes to unabashed, unapologetic garage rock, you need look no further than Jon Spencer. He of the Blues Explosion and Pussy Galore. He who started the fuzzy, fizzy guitar sound that contemporaries like Jack White seem to get all the credit for. But make no mistake - Spencer did it first, and Spencer does it better.

Listening to tracks like “Ghost” and “Overload”, it becomes evident that Spencer has no real interest in changing his formula but that’s all part of its charm. The garage is still his laboratory and Spencer Sings The Hits! has the formula to put a smile on your face, a swagger in your walk and a sway in your hips. What music does that anymore? Music that elicits that kind of response all but died with The Ramones. But bless Jon Spencer’s greasy ol’ truck-stop heart leading the charge for the next generation. 

Jon Spencer – Spencer Sings The Hits! cover artwork
Jon Spencer – Spencer Sings The Hits! — In The Red, 2018

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