While the Vatican of Rock spans a wide range and often worships false idols, Jon Spencer and his Blues Explosion are particularly soulful pontiffs. Plastic Fang was recorded at Manhattan’s Oorong Sound, with Steve Jordan (producer) and Don Smith (engineer). Their combined experience includes time spent with The Rolling Stones, Stevie Wonder, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, and countless other rock pioneers. [...]

News
07/19/04— Matador Alumni Corner
It is with considerable regret that we can confirm Matador will not be releasing the forthcoming album by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The new JSBX full-length, 'Damage', will be released September 28 by Sanctuary.

02/03/03 — the latest
Following last week's shows at New York's Bowery Ballroom, the Blues Explosion are currently on a headlining tour of the UK, including a show at the South Bank's Royal Festival Hall commissioned by Mojo Magazine. Said gig will feature a genuine throwdown between the band and soul legend Solomon Burke.

There's a great story about James Brown once paying Solomon Burke to bail on his half of a double bill, but we all know that Jon Spencer is not likely to shirk from a challenge or a collaboration (and besides, he doesn't carry around that much cash).

You can catch JSBX in their first network TV appearance ever when they appear on NBC's 'Last Call With Carson Daly', Tuesday February 4 at 1:30 am (EST).

09/05/02 — hitting the road (and the road hits back)
We cannot urge you strongly enough to attend the forthcoming JSBX shows (with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Liars) because if you don't, not only will you miss out on the season's hottest rock'n'roll event, but we'll never speak to you again. We're cutting you off. For good. No more bulk e-mails or free DVDs or late-night phone calls. "Plastic Fang" + free bonus DVD is out soon and we're getting a little tired of being so nice about things.

08/01/02 — Plastic Fang + bonus DVD
as part of our continued attempts to show everyone who doesn't already love the Blues Explosion to death that they are totally missing the boat, we're re-releasing the 'Plastic Fang' CD on September 10 with a free DVD shrinkwrapped to it as a free bonus. The disc includes the promotional videos for "She Said" and "Sweet and Sour", along with performance and interview footage from places far and wide --- some seriously crazy stuff, after watching this DVD you might wonder why certain TV programs have neglected to book this band (possibly for fear of making all subsequent musical guests look lame by comparison). 'Fang Visual' has its own slipcase sleeve. (UPDATE: NOW SOLD OUT IN BOTH VERSIONS! CHECK THE STORES!)

If you already own Plastic Fang, you can get it for free by ordering the separate version from the Matador website store along with ANY OTHER ITEM from the store. These will ship mid-to-late August, so that people are assured of getting it before it's in stores (the shrinkwrapped version will still only ship on September 10 if people order it from the website).

We've already heard the odd complaint here and there that Matador is somehow rewarding people who are johnnie-cum-latelys and dissing serious JSBX fans who bought the album right when it came out. And while we're sorry anyone feels that way, we hope everyone understands that this is a particularly ambitious plan on our part to try and get more people to check the band out. Anyone who already owns 'Plastic Fang' doesn't need a cheap trinket from us to make them feel special --- if you already know that the Blues Explosion rule, spare a thought for all the persons less enlightened than yourself that we're trying to reach. Pray for them. If you're not into prayer, at least you can console yourself with the knowledge that "one nation under god" is no longer permissible as part of the pledge of allegiance in public schools.

ok, other than that, check the tour dates section for details about the Blues Explosions's autumn trip with support from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Liars.

07/03/02 — new dates this fall
we implore you to check the tour dates section for upcoming Blues Explosion dates ; the planet's finest live band are hitting the road in autumn with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Liars in tow. Have a peek at Mute's JSBX site to see a quicktime clip of the excellent new "Sweet N Sour" video.

06/07/02 — New Video
a mind-blowingly great animated video for the Blues Explosion's "Sweet & Sour" will be up on this site very soon, around the same time that Mute will be releasing a 7" and CD single of the same incindiary track. Jon, Russell and Judah just completed a killer US tour and they'll be back on the road this autumn with support from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Liars.

05/08/02 — Plastic Fang Contest Winners
The winning entries are now on site. Thanks to everyone who entered and stay tuned for more Matador giveaways in the near future.

04/16/02 — Jon Spencer Blues Explosion: Improving Late Night Television and Other Mediums
The biggest news around here since the Manhattan Deli went out of business is that the Blues Explosion will be the musical guests on “Last Call With Carson Daly” on June (watch this space for the exact date). For our Canadian friends, the band will also be performing on “Open Mike with Mike Bullard” on May 14.

The band are winding up a European tour this week, and then begin their US run in Washington DC on April 24. West Coast residents have faith, the band will be heading your way later in the summer, but for now they will be laying waste to the East Coast and Midwest.

For those cable & satellite dish owning families with MTV2 or MuchMusic access, keep your eyes peeled for the insanely cool new video for “She Said” directed by Floria Sigismondi. The “She Said” video is on the Matador site now, along with a video interview with the band and an MP3 of “Do You Wanna Get It” which is one of the 4 songs that is only available on the deluxe vinyl LP version of Plastic Fang.

For those of you anxiously awaiting the results of the recent Blues Explosion swag contest, we’ll be announcing the winners on the site early next week. We got a few more entries than we expected and it’s taking a day or two to get through them.

04/16/02 — “She Said” video
The video for “She Said” is now online in the music & video seciton.

04/09/02 — Contest Time!
We’re giving away limited editions of both the CD & vinyl, t-shirts, signed photos, stickers, and VHS copies of the “She Said” video. All you have to do is enter and write us a horror story.

04/01/02 — Video Interview
Los Angeles, CA, March 2002. The Blues Explosion talks about the upcoming release and the wonders of Listerine Strips.

03/21/02 — She Said (not the Cramps, Beatles or Scratch Acid song)
“She Said” is the first video from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s new album, ‘Plastic Fang,’ and following filming in Toronto last week, the clip is nearly ready for public consumption on the Matador site and other lucky outlets. Classic videos are nothing new for the Blues Explosion but this might be their best to date. Check the tour dates section for upcoming ‘Plastic Fang’ shows. Excerpts from a video interview with the band, conducted prior to their gig at LA’s El Rey Theatre on March 11, will be available on this site shortly.

02/12/02 — After a crazy one-night stand opening for Ike Turner in NYC in January, the ‘Plastic Fang’ onslaught begins in March when the Blues Explosion play a quick two-night stand on the west coast, March 10 at Bimbo’s in SF and March 11 at the El Rey in Los Angeles. More dates in April and May are being confirmed as we speak. The first European single and accompanying video from ‘Plastic Fang’ is the track “She Said” (not a Beatles or Cramps cover, but much better than anything either band has done recently.)

07/19/01 — On stage and in the studio
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion are continuing work in a New York studio with producer Steve Jordan on their next album. They’ll be taking a brief respite from recording and overseas gigging when they play Maxwell’s tomorrow, as well as headlining the Siren Festival at Brooklyn’s Coney Island, playing along with Guided By Voices, Superchunk, Quasi and others. In an unrelated note, the Brooklyn Cyclones will be taking on the Staten Island Yankees in what pundits have called "the submarine series," July 25 at Keystone Park. Tickets are sold out, so you might want to go to the Siren Festival instead.

03/07/01 — This generation’s greatest live band risks being blown off the stage by old fucks
In an act of extreme bravery or colossal stupidity (we’re betting on the former), the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion have given a wondrous musical gift to their fans by inviting James Chance & The Contortions (March 7) and Suicide (March 8) to support them at Irving Plaza this week. There aren’t many artists who would dare take the stage following such legendary performers, but the Blues Explosion aren’t many artists. There are 3 of them to be precise, but a big thumbs up to Jon, Judah and Russell for trying to make a hot evening out even hotter.

08/14/00 — Russell Puts The Muscle Into Solo Debut
Russell Simins, easily the finest looking drummer in the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, lets loose with all those thoughts and feelings (musical and otherwise) you didn’t know he had in him — or maybe you just suspected, but were too afraid to ask. ‘Public Places’ is the name of Russell’s new CD/LP, and you can find it in all responsible record stores on October 17, courtesy of our friends at Grand Royal.

05/25/00 — Jon Spencer — Even when he’s inactive, he’s more active than you. The Blues Explosion will have some of their wonderful music featured in the upcoming Todd Phillips masterpiece “Road Trip,” thus continuing Jon Spencer’s long association with MTV affiliated motion pictures (we are of course, referring to Boss Hog’s winning cameo in “Joe’s Apartment”). Jon is also a contributor to the forthcoming David Holmes album, which I’d pre-order from Amazon if they sold vinyl.

04/14/00 — Jon Spencer is currently on tour with Boss Hog. You can find tour dates for them up on the Billions web site.

03/06/00 — Blues Explosion, Extended and Revised. Our friends at Mute U.K. have just reissued Extra Width as a double CD that includes Orange, the Australian Mo’ Width album, plus enhanced CD/video stuff. There’s also a double LP/CD reissue of Experimental Remixes including new mixes from John Oswald, Beck, Prince Paul and others. And if that weren’t enough to drain your bank account, there’s a 12" of Acme material remixed by Techno Animal. All of the above (’cept for the Techno Animal mixes) should be hard to find in North America ’cause Matador are still selling these things (i.e. don’t even think about pissing us off), but if you’re that bothered about it, you could always just move to Europe. Nudity on daytime television. Progressive attitudes towards human/vegetable relations... you might want to consider it!

02/25/00 — But not just yet. Coming up on March 5, everyone’s favorite premium cable TV show, "The Sopranos" will feature the Blues Explosion’s "Lapdance" collaboration with Andre Williams playing in the background or foreground of some undoubtedly brutal (or funny) scene. "The Sopranos" is wonderful entertainment, but what’s with all the bad language? [...]