Now I Got Worry

I'd rather listen to a Red Hot Chili Peppers double album than sit through this again.

Nope

This is one of the first albums I have had trouble working my way through. At times the noisy element of it just grinded me the wrong way. Some of the bluesy and hip hop elements were there but then a wall of distorted guitars would come flying at you.

Fun factle u ljeto 2000 ili 2001. Ovo mi je bio najdraži bend. Orange mi je bolji ali ovo obožavam

There is the beginning of a worthwhile album here but it is buried in the harsh production. I don't mind noise but this is way, way too much. Slightly more melodic presentation and it would have been a 3 (maybe even a 4)

Expected blues. Got bad 90s music.

an album okay only in bits and bites. halfway between white man blues and cool noise punk and never quite figuring out when to be which

This is a band name I know. Appeared in every music magazine in the 90's. Never heard a song until today. This album sounds like the 90's! Very nostalgic

What a great discovery for me! This and Adam & The Ants. Great stuff - listened to more of their stuff as well.

I like the sloppiness of it, at least it sounds like real people making real music. A lot of it is silly and that cheapens the whole endeavor a bit for me. Still, I can dig some dirty blues riffs like this.

I don't know what that was or why there was so much of it. Every time I thought I was starting to enjoy the album it reminded me that I did not.

And that's why you don't judge a book by its cover - here's me thinking it'll be a blues album then suddenly - BAM - the vocals of Jon Spencer pierce into my headset, a welcome relief. Gritty classic garage rock all day. Best: Fuck Shit Up Worst: R.L. Got Soul Note: I only listened to the original 16 tracks

Well it certainly sounds like they were having a good time. Diverting, fun, drugs.

bumping up because I want to explore more from this band

I really liked it! It was a bit long but it was pretty fun I thought

Only needed five seconds to give this one star.

Good

Interesting listen, but not my sort of thing

Kind of hard to explain this one but it seems kind of punkish experimental sort of stuff. It's totally different from anything I have heard before, not terrible but not something that I would put on and jam to. It's also not something that I might find relaxing or chilled out. It's interesting but not for me.

Never heard of this band or album and was super pleasantly surprised. Just the right amount of weird, with great production. Vocals are so-so, but I enjoyed it all quite a bit.

its fine but def not for me. I cant really remeber anything about this almub 💀 4/10

I usually like loud and weird, but this is not getting it done.

Genuinely difficult to listen to. I gave it a try but it just wasn't for me.

What the hell is this beginning lol. I don't think I've heard these guys before but I think I'll like them. Meh, it's one of those sounds that sound like a bunch of kids just got some random instruments and threw them in a room to make music. 3 stars.

This is just loud grungy "alternative".

How I expect an album by a band with the name "The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion" to go

interesting that this is on here cause i'm not sure why, it's a period of progression between the 80s and jack white that's easily forgotten

Orange and Acme are probably better. Wettest I've ever been was after a Blues Explosion gig.

pass

I don't like it, screaming out of no where. What the heck dude you sound like you made it in your bedroom not in a good way at all. I feel like I am un hell whlie listen to it, not in a good way or whatever.

Should have ignored it.

01) Skunk - 5,5 02) Identify - 5,5 03) Wail - 5,0 04) Fuck Shit Up - 5,5 05) 2Kindsa Love - 6,0 06) Love All of Me - 5,5 07) Chicken Dog - 5,5 08) Rocketship - 5,5 09) Dynamite Lover - 5,5 10) Hot Shot - 5,0 11) Can't Stop - 7,0 12) Firefly Child - 6,0 13) Eyeballin - 5,5 14) R.L. Got Soul - 5,0 15) Get Over Here - 5,0 16) Sticky - 5,0 TOTAL: 5,50 (55/100)

Cool record! Mostly fun guitar stuff. Last few songs jumped out at me, but that's it. Vibe is blues and alt rock. Lyrics are okay.

I remember going to some shows and trying to get into JSBE, but it never clicked. Still doesn't in 2025.

The guitar on this album is interesting and largely enjoyable. I didn't enjoy the vocals as much. 2.5/5

It was ok. Unique some cool riffs and catchy hooks but it was a little too messy for me. And I was a little bored.

No idea how to rate this, first few songs were not for me but then it kept building and I really loved it. Needs another listen

Frenetic electric blues. A lot of energy, to mostly no great effect. Occasionally okay, often annoying.

Too heavy and screaming. Only listened to start of 1 song

Quite an enjoyable little ride, 3.5 stars

Encore un groupe de rock lambda, ni excellent ni mauvais, ça s'écoute bien et ça sera oublié dans la foulée.

Je vois le truc mais c’est trop long… L’album est mieux au fil des tracks

INTERMINABLE. Pas le pire album qu'on ait eu mais j'ai pas du tout aimé. J'ai trouvé ça répétitif et pas du tout harmonieux dans les sonorités. Un mélange de plein de trucs mais rien de coherent. 1/5

Perhaps this kind of punk blues would be good to see live. However it has translated horribly to the album, all the screaming and distortion just hurts my ears.

Some cool heavy blues rock shit, but holy fuck that first song caught me off guard. Could have done without the last one, too. That said, chicken dog

some genuine cool freak shit, weird punk blues hip hop noise rock. reminded me in spaces a lot of Beck and the Beastie Boys (so no surprise to learn they've worked together). had never heard of them and based on the reviews here i was expecting something much more avant garde and experimental, but the music has a really good shape to it, lots of cool grooves and riffs

Really digging this album. Think it's the drum swagger. Great to listen to while coding.

Take all of the skill out of the white Stripes and the Black keys and you have this shit. What the fuck was that opening track?

i realize i am not having enough fun making music. want to go into the studio & just have fun with it & maybe bang out a real jammy, groovy album like this.

27/09/2025 This was actually a solid album from a band I've never heard before. Spotify listeners: 263.2k

None

It was ok. Not my favorite genre with the yellish lyrics. Won't download the album.

This is very not good. The band is fine, but nothing special. And definitely not good enough to elevate this into something special. I do think that there is a niche where this style works. This old blues-y influenced melodic structure with 90s grunge distortion and vocals. But this isn't it. I couldn't listen to any more of this album, so I did not listen to any of the bonus tracks that are on the album that is linked in the Spotify. This is not worth any more of my time. Favorite Song(s): Chicken Dog (for the instrumentals)

This is the shit edgy teens listen too. Not for me

"it does capture their taut, blazing, live sound and their eccentric studio"

Didn’t like. Dissonant and empty.

Did not know what if Elvis made dance punk was a question I needed answered but here we are.

A favourite festival memory is of seeing Jon Spencer at Reading ‘99 with zero prior knowledge of his work. In a live setting, those chaotic, primal elements work fine. On record, however, the chewing gum loses its flavour after a few tracks as it just doesn’t really have enough there to really connect with beyond the noise.

Both progressive and regressive in equal measure… Highly influential on the blues rock boom of the early 2000s while borrowing heavily from the 70s. I did enjoy the odd moments of experimentation (use of electronic beats, etc.) and found it has aged well.

Chaotic, but I like the raucous energy that it brought. The production of it seems fitting and give it that garage rock feel. Loses its way on some of the slower tracks where the vibe didn’t really match as well but then again, I’m not sure I could take a whole album of high intensity either. Probably works better in small doses.

En una de esas... Nota: 2.9

"This doesn't look like Blues" I think seeing the cover. Didn't take many seconds to confirm, indeed not a Blues album. Not sure I would listen to this again, but I definitely enjoyed it.

There were parts of this album which seemed like music, and parts where it seemed they were just making noise for the sake of it. The musical parts were enjoyable, the rest not so much. I quite liked the twangy guitar parts, but I'm not a fan of the singer

Can’t tell if I like or loathe this album

This is A LOT. Jon Spencer sounds like a louder, messier Tom Waits. Don't @ me.

A little repetitive but good jamming

Interesting stuff here.

You’re not what you think you are.

Too much punk influenced noise for me

dug the last track the most

Not much to say here. Some songs have merit (Rocketship, maybe Chicken Dog) but this album is largely noise. I see it as more of a frenetic Beck album or more disjointed Primus album (with much less of the sick bass lines). Probably not coming back for the Blues Explosion

I'm here for funky time. I was skeptical after the first couple of songs, but was hooked at "Wail." Never heard of these guys but they certainly are fighting for your attention. Loud guitars and never knowing what volume the lyrics will hit you will do that. There is a very interesting style at play here. Never quite blues, rock, punk, or electronic at the same time (at leave I've never seen them in the same room together!) The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is definitely unique. Maybe a little psychotic, but in the best way. Standouts on this listen were "Wail," "Can't Stop," - a banger for both the piano and guitar pieces - and "Eyeballin" - that slide guitar riff will be in my head for a while. The downsides of Now I Got Worry for me are the "yelling into a megaphone" style vocals present on most tracks kinda piss me off after a while. But it's their vibe, I get it. Some of the songs get a little annoying though. The lyrics can be pretty dumb too. I had fun with this but struggle to rate it. It's dumb fun. The music is decent. The lyrics and content matter are meh. There are several songs that could have been left off the album to die. Do I want to listen to more of this again? Yeah, kinda. Maybe I'll check some of their other records out. I'd give this a 7 or 8 out of 10, so it can have 4 stars here. I've given dumber shit 4 stars, so why not?

Got to give this points for originality. Idk if it was totally my thing but production and ideation was super fresh. I’ve also seen videos of them performing and they destroy live

Fun! But ultimately a bit much. Didn’t totally land for me.

I like blues. I like good music. I don't like this.

Lotta noises on this one.

Not my vibe.

Rating: 3.5 Really cool album. You have to be weird guys to make rockabilly Nirvana songs and whatever they have going on here is working. I would have gone with a different name though, I thought I was going to be dying of cringe and corniness but I really had the exact opposite reaction.

I love loud guitar music as much as the next person but this didn’t do much for me. Absolutely admirable to create something purposefully against the art of the time and for it to be received so positively that it makes this list. Great moments but no great songs. Sound design in fuck shit up for example. Cool ideas, didn’t translate to a good song. Eyeballin might be a good song. Wavering between 2 and 3 but I have to remember that interesting does not always translate to good.

Not entirely devoid of value, but pretty terrible nonetheless. There were times when I couldn’t tell if it was the song or my car’s Bluetooth failing. In the hands of a better vocalist, I could see some of these being okay early white stripes b-sides. Does not deserve a place on this list, but also not total buns. 2/5

-1 for the WAAAAAHHHHH

This definitely wasn't the blues like I was expecting based on the band name. I didn't really care for it.

Not as strong as Orange and a bit one-note overall, but the good stuff is cool. 3.5/5

Erratic and fantastic at times but often focuses too much on their fun and not the listeners

Cool stuff

This was a painful listen. Not great for me.

Not good

Day 25 Was ready to hate this one with the way the album starts, ended up quite enjoying it though. Not sure how often I’d revisit 6/10 Highlights Wail 2 kindsa love

No

Want to like this album so bad, the ending ads were weird but the songs were great!

4,5

Never heard of this but I liked it. Nice hard driving guitar and yes, in some weird way it sounds like the blues. I'm on

Ugh. Really? A must listen to??

Intentionally rough and grating. I enjoy it for about 10 or so minutes and then find myself skipping or going to something else. OK, what's next?

I was hopeful based on the title but it took less than 2 seconds of the opening to disabuse me of the expectation of enjoying this. There's an association with R.L. Burnside and while this tries to channel chaotic energy, it falls short. Maybe you had to see these guys in concert?

Meh.

I feel like if I heard this in 96 I could’ve convinced myself I liked it. But this isn’t 1996 anymore.

Reminds me of Elvis, but with a more rock type vibe. The songs were hit and miss and some were very short. THERE WERE SO MANY SONGS.

what

Blues explosion? I think not, maybe "fusion". There are some bluesy elements I like to some songs, but I was expecting something slightly different to this. A few of the guitar riffs are well done, but lyrically and vocally a misfire. I think I've heard "Wail" somewhere before. I liked this track for the most part, but the rest I could happily pass without much thought. It wasn't terrible, but not to my taste and way too long. 2.

Well, weel, this is what we deserve.

Too rowdy for me

Has it's moments but mostly unremarkable. The ear splitting vocal recording was mostly not for me.

I knew the (Jon Davis) Folk Implosion was jokingly named after these guys but never heard them before. Blues isn't my thing but this is more punk rock blues I guess. It's noisy. I see the Elvis singing White Stripes comparisons people are making for sure.

Uneven album. Some good ones mixed in with some duds.

Блюз с прививкой гранжа, панка (и хип-хапа немного). Не расслушал с ходу, мнение составить не вышло.

Hilariously bad. It's an insult this is being classified as punk.

if you think this is cool you suck

What the fuck, how can a band name fill me with so much excitement and then just scream at me? Not good fun.

Bueno, hay que ratear esto. No conocía al disco. A la banda solo de nombre. ¿Me gustó? Definitivamente no. Fue duro, sobre todo al principio. Los AHHH AHHHH de Skunk, la primera canción, y que mencionaran al pelotudo de Weird Al Yankovich me hicieron pensar que esto era una especie de parodia del blues y el garage rock. Estuve tentado a ponerle una estrella y seguir de largo. Por suerte insistí y lo escuché un par de veces más. Me sigue sin parecer muy bueno, pero alcanza las dos estrellas. El poroto que tienen es por hacer una especie de revival del garage rock en los 90s. Son unos White Stripes adelantados. Mucho menos talentosos que Jack pero quizás un poco más que Meg jaja. Y mucho más punkies. Y eso es un poco todo lo que es este disco: una amalgama garage, blues y punk, grabada medio para el orto. No le di mucha pelota a las letras, pero viendo la actitud de la banda y los títulos de las canciones, creo que hice bien. El disco empieza muy mal. Se empieza a volver escuchable a partir del track 5. No entiendo porque el disco está entre los 1001 discos. ¿Habrá sido muy popular en EEUU? No lo registro. No entiendo su importancia como para incluirlo acá. Por lo general no hay canciones memorables, no te vas a quedar con ninguna melodía tarareando en la cabeza. ¿Temas a destacar? El primero, sin dudas, Skunk: si hay algo que todos (lo que participemos acá) vamos a recordar de este disco es esta canción y sus primeros segundos AHHHH que hacen una buena presentación del disco; 2Kindsa of Love está "bien", si bien tiene un riff feo que se mantiene durante casi toda la canción, es algo RECORDABLE, y el estribillo está simpático. La que le sigue, Love of me, está simpática. Es cortita y no molesta. Es la que podría haber sido grabada con mejor calidad y estaba bien. ¿La mejor canción del disco? Es muy probable. La que sigue también está bien, Chicken Dog, con cositas interesante con la guitarra. Estas tres canciones están bien, pero después el cantante borracho hace una impresión de Lou Reed bastante mala y volvemos a foja cero. Y después el tipo vuelve a imitar a Mick Jagger. Me imagino a Lou y Mick tomándose un par de birras y después ir a la casa del cantante a pegarle en las "partes bajas". Después el disco vuelve a repuntar un poquito con Can't Stop y Firefly Child (esta última también puede ser la mejor canción del disco), pero después cae otra vez. Y después rescato Get Over Here casi al final. ¿Soy un Patriota por haber escuchado este disco varias veces en vez de ponerle un uno? Creo que sí. En fin: dos estrellas, pero es un dos estrellas débil: serían 3/10 estrellitas. Me inclino por el 2 y no por el 1 porque en algunas canciones se ve algo de talento, y chusmeando las reviews vi que varios le pusieron un 1 sin pasar por más de un par de canciones. Comprensible, pero igual es un poco injusto ratear antes de escuchar. Por suerte ya vi que el que me tocó después es de Radiohead.

Unexpected cracker.

This album was weird but I liked parts of it. I'd probably give it 2.5 stars if I could.

I can’t tell if these jokers are angry or horny or high or all three. This was a 1 star for me until the back half of the album. There’s even a couple tracks here that you might confuse for music. Good riddance

Ok here's the thing about Jon Spencer. He plays some songs that shows that he knows how to make a catchy song. That means that he is choosing to suck. And that's the worst kind of sucking. Some people give it their all and fall short. That's ok, it happens. Jon chose to suck, and slaps your ears with terrible noise.

Noise...

I really don’t know how to rate this album. At first, I hated it, but I felt compelled to listen to it a few more times and it really grew on me. It went from a 2 to almost a 4. I’m going to settle on 3, because whilst I liked it, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to it.

Well, I can confidently say this is the first album I've listened to that started with someone just straight screaming at me. Not sure what I expected from a "punk blues" description, but that was not it. I guess it contributed to album's early vibe, which felt like a lot of anger/pointed antagonism being expressed as it kicked off. I think the album suffered from how it started. Not just with the screaming, but also the first couple songs. I thought there were actively abrasive and it kinda turned me off from the get go. It was a shame since there was some good stuff in there later on that I probably would've appreciated more had I heard it without that lead in. To be clear, there were a number of songs that I liked. They were more typical blues/rock than the garage punk sound many of the other tracks had. Wail, 2Kindsa Love, Firefly Child were examples. After about the halfway point, I thought all of the songs were fairly strong (aside from Sticky, that is). Unfortunately, there were some other songs really didn't work for me. It's like they wanted to be loud more than be musical. I guess that's the "punk" part at work. I was hopeful I would like this one when I saw the description. While there were plenty of tracks that I liked, the rest of the songs took away a lot of the listenability of the album as a greater work. As a result, any relistening would come from me returning to only certain songs by themselves. Those songs do make me rate this as more fine than bad, but it's still not something I would call good as a whole album. Overall: 2.7/5

A very weird garage rock album. I didn't hate this, aside from the opening screams, but I don't know that I liked it, either. The songs are short and kind of pass by you, and the vocals are very garagey. Either way, this isn't blues music.

I do believe the British would use descriptors like “rubbish,” “third-rate” and perhaps “bollocks” 🤷‍♀️ to describe this horrific album which has absolutely no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Just a bunch of unpleasant noise and I didn’t get through more than the first two songs before I threw in the towel.

Overall not the style of music I’m used to listening. One particular thing I’m not too fond of is the instrumental seemingly being louder than the vocals. Songs like Wail and 2Kindsa Love peak my interest, while Skunk was an instant skip for me. Overall not a project I’ll spend much time coming back to.

Blues that’s trying really hard to be new and cool. Sometimes gives Dj Shadow vibes. It’s fine but unnecessary 4.4/10

Heel slecht

I actually kinda like this. My head was bobbin. Raw, punky and fun. An influence on Jack White perhaps? I don’t know but sounds like him a little bit and some Black Keys too. Not bad.

At different times this reminded me of Beck, The President of the USA, Cake, Viagra Boys, and the White Stripes. So yeah, it kicks ass.

1.5 Like a 45 minute joke you don’t get to be a part of. The type of music that “too cool for school” white guys told you to listen to in the 90s.

Something always so American about this guy that never translated for me. Gave it a chance, nothing particularly stands out. 2.5 rounded up Heard before? No Owned: No, 7/1001, 7/27 (25%) Will I get? Recommend:

Inventive and energetic: 1001 ways to make distortion sound interesting. But the pervasive devil-may-care attitude ultimately makes this a meal lacking in any shred of nutrition.

Yeah, I couldn't do this one. Was like one of those bad openers you hear that have potential but don't put it together.

Vibing with this heavy. Really unique sound.

Not a fan of the blues.

A mixed bag. Would listen again (and need to)

Blind album and artist. So much potential and completely ruined by the end of this album. And dont forget the immediate screeching at the start that scares the shit out of everyone. The blues riffs are so freaking cool with the punk style, and there are good tracks in here. Just sucks that an album can have so much good and absolute shit at the same time.

not bad

The Explosion is very much a hit or miss kind of band, and this is definitely is a mix of both. There’s some absolute bangers of the band actually tapping into the “blues” their name suggests while still melting it with a flamethrower. But all too often they’re just riffing with no end, songs losing structure, and it meanders far too much. “Orange” is a much tighter album from a pretty cool group, and even if there’s some barn burners here, there’s also too much filler.

Fun sort of chaotic noise, but probably the sort of thing that you’d have to see in person to really appreciate

Punk blues classic

I didn’t know quite what to expect here, but this was cool. It’s gritty, but has a groove to it. Great album.

Bad

A lot of screaming and strange sounds. Not my favourite. Repetitive at times - boring.

This was a lot more punk in terms of attitude than I expected given the name of the band. So, it's kind of funny, on a second listen, without thinking I was going to get a blues record, I liked it!

oh god no!

Maybe I just caught this on the wrong day but I hated the dissonant chaos of it. It's a shame because there are flashes of real musicianship throughout but man I did not have fun with this.

Most of it just sounded like a guy screaming

This album is like walking into a pub where there is a fight in progress and you think we'll go to the quiet one down the road for a game of dominoes.

20 seconds in, 1 star. This is absolute shit.

Not my type of jazz, though I get the explosion part. Some got a new distortion pedal!

Noise rock that has too much noise and not enough rock

I saw the vision, did not like the execution personally.

You Call Me Mr. Rhythm 1001 Albums Generator 89 (08/05/2025) From the scream that opens Now I Got Worry, I knew that this was not going to be an album for me. Don't get me wrong, I like some noise rock stuff (hell, I gave Atomizer a positive review), but The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion is different. Negative connotation. Even once the band settles into a groove, the sung vocals are also quite annoying unfortunately. This is also quite an experimental album, with sounds that are not just confined to rock/punk. Fuck Shit Up sounds like a really glitchy version of a more trip-hop-ish Beck track. Sticky leans into some neo-psychedelia experiments. But for the most part, Now I Got Worry is a noisy punk blues album. This is a style that can sometimes work for me (see The White Stripes), but The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion did not interest me. There are some slightly bright spots. Identify is a short burst of sound that works pretty well. Wail has the closest thing to actual riffs on the album, and is all the better for it. Love All Of Me almost sounds like a really noisy indie track, which is kind of cool. The second half of Chicken Dog, when it's mostly instrumental, is pretty good. Eyeballin is also kind of cool with its guitar that sounds puled out of some southern rock song and drums that switch from more classic rock sounds and electronic. But then there's all the rest. While songs like Skunk and Fuck Shit Up feel too experimental and out there for me, songs like Rocketship and Dynamite Lover feel overly simple, almost like a parody of themselves. Sticky is also an absolute disaster. I think this album just doesn't know what to do with itself; it tries to do so much, but most of it doesn't end up working. In addition, Jon Spencer's vocals just do not work for me at all. In spite of some interesting riffs and grooves at various points, this album is less than the sum of its parts and does not deserve a spot on this list. 1.5/5, rounded up to a 2 because there were some redeeming songs. Favs: Wail Love All Of Me Eyeballin Least Fav: Sticky

This album starts with the most unpleasant screaming. It doesn't get much better than that the rest of the way through. However, it seems that when they try to make music that is less discordant they are able to. I actually quite enjoyed Can't Stop and R.L. Got Soul. I imagine many others didn't have the endurance to get to that part of the album.

Nah mate, that's a pass.

This was meh? It really should be my style, a fast paced rock/punk band with tons of energy and guitar should be right up my alley but it just wasn't here. Coming in I knew "Bellbottoms", (thank you Edger Wright) and expected stuff closer to that so perhaps that's why? Maybe it's my mood? idk. Could see myself giving this another listen down the line but for now I didn't connect with it. 3/10

Explosion is probably the key word. Blues… less so. Little more heavy than what I like.

Bit of a strange one. Plenty of rock, mixed with some noise, and I guess what I'd call blues. It doesn't seem to have much flow or sequencing, but there are some funky noises throughout. Unsure about this one.

Maso

Got jumpscared by this intro.

Okayish.

Not for me. I made it all the way through and wonder why.

Raw, energetic, eccentric, not quite to my taste.

Didn't seem interesting or original. The vocals seemed to be an Elvis rip-off at times. This is one of many where I am not sure how they made this list.

Can't quite get on board. In other context I really love that lofi style but here I can't get past it just feeling annoying. Not much notable songwriting that I can discern. Maybe caught me on a bad day.

Unbearable listen

Loud, chaotic, and full of attitude, but the noise rock/rockabilly thing just isn’t my vibe even if I get why it hits for some people.

Furchtbar! Welcher Rotz wird denn hier noch als Musik präsentiert??

Random yelling right off the bat does not give me a good feeling about this album. This is too much like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Scuzz rock is not for me I think. This genre of music could more aptly be described as garage rockabilly. It's like if Brian Setzer went to prison. Dynamite Lover is good, like if Chris Isaak decide to rock. R.L. Got Soul is the best track on the album.

punky noise - not my style.

Love this album!

I went in skeptically, but this spoke to me quite a lot. Frenetic nonsense, mixed with absolute rockabilly silliness and pure unserious magnificence. It's pompous without being pompous.

Noise.mp4

Didn’t do a lot for me. Felt like Rolling Stones wannabes

i was promised a blues explosion and all i got was this shit explosion

Well, this certainly was a thing. This is like the when the trashy dive bar band throws you an original song but they're too drunk to remember how to play it. I like it though, it's chaotic, energetic and reminds me of my youth.

Was surprised by how aggressive some songs were, good stuff though

Just terrible.

Now I Got Worry spams the noisy blues-jam formula Jon Spencer has spent his career mining. With 32 songs clocking in just under 80 minutes, it starts as a sprint but reminds you midway that there's still a lot more gritty, lo-fi swagger to go. The stretch around "Sticky" and "Cool Vee" that goes on for a few more tracks is either a breather from the gritty break neck pace or it lays back too much, risking a loss of listener attention. While I'd have trimmed the album down, ultimately, I stayed charmed enough for it to land at 4 stars.

The first song is horrid. However the rest of the album does get progressively better. Still the first few song are rough.

Uma música boa, porém é melhor do que eu achei que seria

This started with a man screaming in my ear for 30 seconds and it never recovered

Album 846 of 1089 The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Now I Got Worry (1996) Rating : 2 / 5 Right out of the gate, this one brought to mind the absolute worst of Captain Beefheart—chaotic, noisy, and completely unconcerned with format or structure. Just a barrage of sound. But as I stuck with it, I started to catch little bursts—moments of genuine musicianship and flashes of creativity that hinted at something more beneath the mess. That said, overall, this was a real wreck for me. Not something I’d ever revisit unless I was trying to win some kind of “top this disaster” contest. I’m still glad I heard it—if for no other reason than to confirm that sometimes, art can be more fun to survive than enjoy. Today, we part ways, JSBX.

Already negatively inclined towards this because Ozzy Osbourne died yesterday and this wasn’t a Black Sabbath record. Noisy white boy blues. Gets old fast.

Obnoxiously noisy, as opposed to artfully noisy, or ragefully noisy, which I enjoy.

Yikes

My ears need a break

Successfully exploded the blues.

boom!

4.2

Chaotic and sloppy, but he walKed so The Black Keys could run. Some decent grooves and dirty blues guitar but would probably never listen to this again.

I can see why people don’t like this album…. But this is some of the best guitar playing on this entire list…. White noise? Really?

Very noisy and a little bit chaotic. I didn't find it to be the most enjoyable. high 2/5

This album sounds like your neighbors decided to get drunk on the anniversary of Elvis’s death and have a drunken jam session. I totally understand why people don’t like this, but I also see any some people would love this. I appreciate the noisy, bluesy punk sound but still probably wouldn’t want these guys as my neighbors.

Kinda shit. 1 star.

Meh. Although I can imagine some of these songs sounding better live

There are albums where chaos feels liberating. And then there are albums where chaos becomes so overwhelming that all sense of direction disappears. Now I Got Worry unfortunately falls into the latter category for me. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion tries here to distill their scrappy blend of blues, punk, and noise rock into something raw and energetic, but the result mostly feels like a loose jam session without clear direction. There’s plenty of attitude and bravery, but the songs drown in muddy production and a constant sense of unrealized potential. There are a few moments where the chaos hits something interesting, for example, in tracks like “Chicken Dog” or “Wail”, but overall, I miss a clear thread or just some basic musical coherence. It all feels too random and unfocused. The boldness and uncompromising attitude push the album up to 2 out of 5 in my book. But honestly, it’s an album I leave feeling more frustrated than fascinated. 2/5

Don't be confused by the band's name, this is not what I would call a "proper" Blues album - Wikipedia gives the genre as Punk Blues / Alternative Rock and I would say that Punk Blues is probably the most apt description, although angry noise might be another.

A blues explosion should be right up my street but this didn’t really land for me, although I admit to listening to this on my mini Bluetooth speaker whilst painting with a fan on in the background which may have impacted things. The vocals weren’t really landing and a lot seemed a bit noisy and experimental. I may return to check I’ve not given this an unfair listen or indeed if people recommend I give it another go.

Too dry

What an artistic feat, with lyrics like "Throw your hands in the air, and kiss my ass, because your girlfriend still loves me." Truly impressive. I went back and forth between giving this 1 or 2 stars, but there are just too many songs on this album that feel aggressively bad or annoying to me, so 1 star it is. I was curios and looked at their artist page, and this is the band that does the "Bellbottoms" song from the movie Baby-driver, so I guess they are capable of decent to good music. This album ain't it though. Standouts: nope Rating: 1.6/5

Didn't quite click with me. 5/10

I did actually quite in enjoy this but still didn’t feel quite deserving of a 4 stars, just a bit off. 3 stars

Very psych rock. I liked it real wake up call full of riffs and fun.

A couple of good grooves but mostly annoying snippets. Somewhere between 2-3 stars but the bad outweighed the good so going with 2.

I've listened to the whole album but won't choose to listen again. Parts alright, others forgettable.

Up until last week, I’d never heard of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion outside of the context of this list. I was listening to an episode of a podcast that talked about Yeah Yeah Yeahs’s “Maps,” and the podcast mentioned that Yeah Yeah Yeahs had toured with JSBE in their early days. In reading some background information on this album, I see that it’s described as blues punk, which I didn’t even know was a thing. I have no clue what this album is going to sound like, but here goes nothing! Now I Got Worry started off incredibly rough. The first four songs were an absolute mess in my opinion. The sound felt cacophonous in way that made me feel like JSBE were trying to imitate Trout Mask Replica, and the fourth song, “Fuck Shit Up,” felt like the band was trying to be edgy in a way that a 12-year-old would appreciate. After that though, I really got into this album in a way that I was not expecting. I’m usually more drawn to hooks and melodies, but the rhythms on this album were really catchy, and for a trio (minus some sparse guest musicians), I thought these guys created a really deep and interesting sound. I didn’t care for Jon’s vocals that much, but the guitar playing was really great. After those first four tracks, I found the album a lot more accessible, and I really enjoyed grooving along to the rest of the album. The last two tracks were not my speed, but everything else in the middle was really solid. A few notes on some songs that stood out to me: “2Kindsa Love”- the guitar playing was great. The distortion was melodic, and the hard-driving rhythm that gave the song a great groove. The vocals were bluesy and also punky in a way that hit just right for me. “Chicken Dog” – the guitar playing was great, and there was a good groove to the rhythm. The guest vocals from Rufus Thomas were awesome, and a welcome reprieve from Jon’s singing. “Rocketship” and “Dynamite Love”- both of these songs had some good guitar playing that I enjoyed. These two songs were when I noticed that it was the rhythm of the album that was really drawing me in. I thought the distortion on the guitar was great too. “Hot Shit”- this was the only song where I liked Jon’s vocals. “Can’t Stop”- this was my favorite song on the album. I loved the piano playing, and I wish there had been more piano melodies like this on the other songs. “Firefly Child”- this had some of the best guitar playing on the album. “Eyeballin”- I loved the guitar breakdown halfway through. One of the best ‘small moments’ on the album. “R. L. Got Soul”- the main guitar riff was excellent, and I loved the distortion that kicked in about halfway through the song. All in all, this was a surprisingly solid album. This isn’t the sort of thing I’m usually drawn to, but I thought this album was really unique, and despite the rocky start, it managed to hook me in.

What the fuck is this. From the beginning, i just despise it. Just sloppy drunken jamming and that's it.

This was really cool, not something I’ve listened to much in the past.

it's fine. wouldn't go back though

Kind of agree with the consensus here, it’s annoying and amazing in equal parts. I think I can tolerate annoying a lot more than most though.

This group should have never made a recorded album. I mean this as praise, mind you.

This album was a revelation. I had never heard of it and I was judging it based on the title and my less than high enthusiasm for blues. That said this album was totally unexpected and different. Although I expect it would have become a top tier album for me 15 years ago I still appreciated it and liked many of the songs.

What an interesting experience. Had a few good funky jams, but I probably won't ever find myself listening to it again.

some fun ideas and sounds, will return to a couple of these

Not for me at all, gave it a few more songs but I hated it from the very start.

The opening scream was a bit jarring at 7:30 this morning, but overall a really fun album. This is the kind of record I wish Jack White would make every couple years. “Dynamite Lover” was my favourite but solid front to back. High 3

2.9 Trash Album cover. My take was that a few songs were written tongue in cheek, which I sorta liked. Pretty poor reviews from the 1001 community. I think I liked it overall and will take another stab at it at one point. Those that did like the Artist seemed to have suggested the Orange album to be a better choice. I will check that out too

<eye roll>

Might be the worst album I've ever listened to, but at least it makes that clear from the outset. I've never been more jealous of deaf people.

open yr mind….

I missed this one the first time around—and it’s fine. It has its own sound: choppy, messy, full of guitar acrobatics—l noisy showman with chaotic flair vibes. I tend to lean more toward classic blues, and this felt too fractured for my taste (for a blues explosion). However, I kind of felt some Velvet Underground meets Stones influence on “Rocketship”…which was probably my favorite track. And ‘Sticky’ was kind of weird in a good way. But overall, I probably won’t revisit this album anytime soon.

This dropped when I worked at Tower Records and I totally slept on it. It's funny to listen to it now because I can totally hear the 90s in it. Is it in the production? Is it in the arrangements? Is it in the drums? Chord progressions maybe? I think what I'm hearing is the sort of DGAF indie freedom that permeated a lot of stuff of that era, when labels were more willing to take chances on artists and release records that challenged conventionality and took a bunch of genres and frapped them in a blender. Jon Spencer was a collaborator with Beck in the mid 90s and it really shows here. Several songs on this release seem a little short, kinda like sketches more than fully realized pieces. "Chicken Dog" is pretty great, especially since it features R.L. Burnside for a hot minute. The energy of "Dynamite Lover" and "Can't Stop" are fantastic. This really grew on me with each successive track. I'll probably be coming back to this again, at least to put a track or two on my 90s Alt Parking Lot playlist.

Those are quite the sounds to open up the album. And quite the sounds throughout the album too. Holy chicken dog.

very good.

These dudes were huge among the cool indie set back in the ‘90s, but never really hooked me. Like the other album of theirs I own, this is fun but not something I seek out.

Shit Sandwich. (Sorry. I won't repeat this.)

Antecedente claro de los White Stripes, con su primitivo sonido sostuvieron en rock en los 90, con un puente entre el garaje-punk y el revival de principios del siglo 21. Imprescindible? Puede serlo, tanto este como el anterior y más accesible Orange o el posterior Acme. Wail sobresale como una canción estupenda, con la mirada puesta en el psicobilly de los Cramps. Rocketship ha influido segramente en los citados White Stripes o en otros ilustres como The Black Keys. Hot Ship es tan inclasificable como salvaje y bailable!! Get over here sale directamente de las catacumbas y el cirrre con Sticky te deja con cara de panoli. Toda una experiencia.

Okay, it really grates on the ears. But it's also quite interesting. The further I got into the album, the less I liked it. In the end, I gave up. I won't listen to it again. 2/5

The fact this came out in the 90s and not the 70s makes this album slightly worse. Not that good either way.

Meh

Not really bluesy!

This kicks ass!

Initial thought was “teenagers discover distortion pedal” got better throughout the album

My experience with this album started off bad and only got worse as the "music" wore on. I pride myself on the ability to persevere and give every album a full listen, no matter how much I dislike it. This album severely tested that ability.

A bit polarizing, I see. This was a defining album of my (sonic) youth. Also one of the very shows I have been at. Unquestionable 5 out of 5 for the awesomeness of teenage angst. Also for the unlimited love for early rock'n'roll and blues. My ears were never the same after this. FUCK SHIT UP!

A little chaotic.

Be warned that this album starts with a loud obnoxious scream which sets the tone for the rest of this fucking shit

Garage rock meets the blues. Reminiscent of the White Stripes but less wit or lyrical depth. The edgy, energetic sound makes me rank this 3.5 and hesitantly round up to 4…

I am not sure that what Jon Spencer explodes is Blues. This is a raw, garage band style, album but it doesn't really sound like the blues to me. It is a classic case of energy and power without soul, and if blues lacks soul, what is the point.

Beware the jumpscare when you put this album on!! I was using headphones and nearly shat myself I actually weirdly enjoyed this album on the whole. It loses a star though for the terrible screaming and weird noises. The last song was like nails on a chalkboard 3 ⭐️

Sounds like if Mick jagger Fronted the velvet underground if they were a new band these days.

Hmmm. I think it isn't very good. Maybe someone can enlighten me.

i hate this type of music and most of the songs sound exactly the same. there were one or two good ones but i couldn't even finish it.

Really not a fan.

Life is too short to listen to this kind of garbage. I couldn't finish the opening track, and ended up skipping three of the first four. I actually liked "Wail". It sounded like some Talking Heads style absurdism. But the quality didn't hold and after trying two more tracks, I bailed on the album.

Couldn't finish

Ok listen. I was listening to this in the morning, which was a huge mistake. I got to song 17 (a little over half way!!) and said to myself “This almost certainly a 1 star, who are these people who choose these albums, let me pick it back up later because it’s simply making me too miserable right now and there’s so much more album to get through.” After work I had two (2) beers and on the walk home resumed the album, picking up at “Fish Sauce” and it was a BLAST. So I give this 2 stars instead of 1.

This was great, jarring, noisy, diverse. Not quite enough for 5 stars, but a fine 4 star album.

It’s ok, pretty unique though

Couldn’t get through it. Favorite Track: N/A

Very blues and punk at the same time.

Not my bag

If you hate this, you hate fun.

What the fuck

Three albums that are from 1996 that could/should replace this absolute abomination - Evil empire - RATM, Aenima - Tool, To the Faithful Departed - The Cranberries. Does Robert Dimery even have ears?

Opens with a scream. And it's downhill from there, nothing redeeming.

I love this and immediately connected with it. Genre defying in the best way. Such fun energy and captivating hooks. Can’t get enough, where has this been hiding all my life!

- phew, teilweise echt anstrengend, insgesamt auch einfach nicht so richtig der Hit für mich - nicht wirklich was hervorgestochen (außer negativ)

Iffy album by the Blues Explosion which is a shame because I like most of their dtuff

Annoying screeching gets in the way of some good wild tunes.

Voy a escuchar solo los 16 temas del álbum original. Este grupo/autor siempre rondando lo que se supone que me debería gustar, pero nunca le he cogido el punto. Aburrido e insufrible. 2 estrellas.

Good vibes

Reading the reviews before listening (don't recommend doing this) made me think I would hate this. The opening of the first song starts with some screaming which I did in fact hate. However, the album itself is fine. Sounds kinda like Jack White to me. My biggest issue really is the length. It really doesn't deserve 1 hour and 19 minutes. If it was half that time, it'd be a 3 but I have to mark it down for being pointlessly long. The best song is 'Get With It' which sounds like Elvis singing whilst reversing a HGV.

# 489 : Now I Got Worry : 27/05/2025 A two line bio, opaque album cover and the first few reviews don't give me much confidence in this LP. Alas it lived up to it's hype. Another album which makes you reconsider whether there are as many as 1,001 albums you MUST listen to before you die.

I didn't like this one much at all, really dislike the first half but the instrumentals on most of the songs in the back half are pretty good (still don't like the vocals). Just barely enough to turn 1 star into 2 for me

This album fucking sucks

The start of the album was jarring. I immediately disliked it and wasn’t looking forward to the rest. The rest except the ending was okay however. It was tolerable but sounded a little repetitive among some songs. I don’t think I would listen again but I’m glad I listened this one time.

This shit sucks

I really enjoyed the middle third or so of this album, where I felt like it hit the perfect blend of bluesy, thrashy, and hooky. The begging and end were out of balance in the thrashy direction, but overall a solid listen.

so fun

exceptionally okay. some stuff was flat-out weird, some was pretty vibey. nothing really stood out, and the album could have definitely been shorter. 2/5 because i just did not care for it. didn’t suck though.

Sitting through multiple times this was painful. Struggled to find anything to enjoy... The song Can't Stop wasn't too bad I guess. Gets a 1.5, rounded to a 1 because I don't want to hear it again.

This instead of 'Orange' on the list?! Tell me Orange is on the list. Nobody needs to listen to this album before they die.

Very interesting, I’ve never heard before. Eclectic, different edges of dissonance but worthy of ongoing consideration.

Edgy for the sake of being edgy, not so great

The middle school level graphic design of the album cover should have been the first sign that I wasn't going to enjoy this that much

This sounds quintessentially 90s, like a slightly less edgy Mellow Gold. but by 96 this slacker sound had already permeated and this album isn't consistently interesting throughout, so I'm a little puzzled by its inclusion. Still an overall fine album, but I wouldn't rush to a relisten.

The screeching that opens this album is a pretty rough first impression. It is cool to see the thru-line here: a sort of missing link between punk of the 80s and blues rock revival that would follow in the form of White Stripes and Black keys. But the space between is pretty rough. Lots of extraneous punk style screeching and distortion that is jarring rather than, you know, good. If there's an artistic purpose to it that justifies the surface-level unpleasantness, it eludes me.

I was fully prepared for this to be a 1-star, chaotic mess of noise. But then "F**k Shit Up" started and my entire outlook on this album changed.

The opening primal scream immediately set me on edge that I was going to hate this, but luckily I persisted - this developed into a spiky, eccentric, slightly shocking blues-rock romp that was actually pretty enjoyable. Good stuff!

This is very noisy and the vocals are very bad. Could hardly finish it 1/5

This is probably the worst album I've ever listened to. Its Nothing but pure junk

Could be better if the lyrics weren't non existent

What the hell was that opening to this album....all that screaming in "Skunk." It is a shame that some really interesting guitar riffs and Instrumentals were wasted on vocals that I feel at times were weird just for "shock value." This wasn't great. I'm gonna round it up to a 2 for instrumentals but some songs were REALLY bad. I'm looking at you "Fuck Shit Up." This album was also LONGGGG. Too long to be this bad. Actual....1.5 Liked Songs: "Wail" , "Love All Of Me" , "Chicken Dog" , "Rocketship" , "Dynamite Lover" , "Let's Smerf" , "Dig My Shit"

this blows There are a few moments of something decent here, but for the most part, see above. 1.5

Favorite tracks: Skunk, Wail, Chicken Dog, Dynamite Lover The aspect of mixing blues rock with punk rock is so interesting to me, and the way in which Spencer blends the genre into a fully noisy and manic record really works for me. If this were more consistent, I'd consider it to be one of my favorites in the dive so far.

not my fav :/

Sounded like when my brother found an electric guitar in our neighbors alley and plugged it in. He couldn’t play either.

Blues!

This album gets cooking at the halfway mark, but the first six songs are a slog. I prefer Acme or Orange when they mostly shout "BLUES EXPLOSION" over slam-on-the-brakes rock. It's a limited technique but it works when they do it.

I count myself as a fan of The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's brand of grimy garage punk and gutter blues music. My copy of Orange was on heavy rotation in the mid-90s, yet I never got around to the rest of the band's catalog. Now I Got Worry plays differently than its predecessor, which presented like a variety hour of musical sketches and sleazy, funky charm emceed by Spencer. It's more varied in style, raunchier but equally combustible. I love the 1-minute hardcore throwback "Identify," while "Love All of Me" sounds like Elvis on a bender in the pre-gentrification Lower East Side. Is this the best JSBE album? I cannot say, but I'm fine with it being on this list as an example of how the blues established a foundation for so many diverse rock subgenres.

Enjoyed this album, I don't know why I'm thinking about James Brown right now but I believe his spirit is somewhere listening to this music and smiling.

This was fine but I think Orange is better.

Interesting. But not for me. I'm not entirely sure what's going on here.

This was a roller coaster. I hated it and almost stopped listening out the gate and then by Chicken Dog I was at a 3, then it fell back off. Half the songs sounds like someone is getting tortured back stage.

certainly a strange album even the album layout is strange

Instantly hate it

Really truly quite terrible isn’t it

# Album Name: Now I Got Worry # Artist: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion # Rating: 2/5 # Comments: The first half is An absolutely terrible album. From the first 3 seconds i just knew it was dog shit. Enough said. I read another comment saying it picks up half way through. So i gave it a chance. It morphs into something a tad better from rocketship onwards. The first half absolutely kills this one though im afraid. Theres some listenable tracks on the 2nd half. But there is no way this should be on the fucking list. My gawd. # Top Tunes: Rocketship / Dynamite lover / firefly child # Would I listen to it again? fuck no

What a string of weird albums…

Almost stopped after the first two tracks, but the middle stuff was a bit better. Not my jam.

I didn't hate it, but I doubt I'd listen to it again on purpose.

Not really for me, but I can see where this would have been influential or had an impact during the time.