If you couldn’t slow down and go down to the Heavy Trash low-down throw-down at Water Street Music Hall, then I’m here to rub it in. You
missed a mondo killer rockabilly shock transmission
from the very heart of primal rock ‘n’ roll. Direct from New York Cit-ay, Heavy Trash heaped on the sleaze just swimming in
grease and reverb.
Like I’ve said before, Heavy Trash is more about the spark
than the flame. Coming on like an Elvis Christ carnival barker, front man Jon
Spencer proved to be essentially the same microphone-eating, wild-ass personae
as when he fronts the Blues Explosion — it’s just that the Blues explosion is
all about the detour and pioneering fresh mayhem. Heavy trash is a lot more
rudimentary, drawing from the period when the stitches that held R&B, blues,
and hillbilly boogie together still hadn’t completely healed. Matt Verta Ray, of Speedball Baby fame, wielded his big guitar like
a savage and show opener Bloodshot Bill danced with his upright bass like a
drunken prom date. The whole show was sweltering and swinging culminating in
Spencer raving and testifying from atop the bar. Have Mercy.
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2014.
