Now I Got Worry

The short glimpses of great music always get blown away by the huge amount of songs that I just want to get as far away as I can from.

Totally bad

This sounds like a collection of noisy interludes. Those are never the highlight of an album, so put 16 of em on a record and no surprise my score.

Album gave me a headache. Do not, under any circumstances, revisit this album.

Woof this was ass.

Well that sucked. 1.5 rounded up for the brief moments of enjoyment

Blind Listen Log #42 Album: Now I Got Worry Artist: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion No idea about this band or what they sound like, so let's dive in and see. Skunk - Vocals are so muddled. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but I don't like this. Identity - Too short, and that's a bad thing. It feels like lazy filler. Wail - This one is better than the last two, but not by much. I can't understand his singing. Sorry. F*ck Shit Up - Nope, the songwriting is just atrocious. It sounds like they are just throwing in lines about things getting f*cked up. I mean, can they just think of something more clever? The distortion at the end just makes it worse. 2KindsaLove - The guitars and drums are the only redeeming parts of this song. I'll give them credit for that. Love All of Me - Now this song is more tolerable. Lyrics aside, this is not bad at all. Chicken Dog - I'm diggin' the intro, what a surprise. Nice guitar distortions there. But then the fake chicken sound just ruined it for me. Why? And the repeated "Chicken Dog" hook with the dog barks made it even worse. It would have been a good song, but the end part ruined it. It's laughable. Rocketship - Things just got better. I hope this upward trend continues. Dynamite Lover - I'm actually enjoying this. It's very groovy and bluesy. I just hope they don't mess it up this time. Thank God there was no weird surprise at the end. Easily the most enjoyable song so far. claps hands Hot Shit - Still can't stand his wailing, but at least it's better than "Identity." Can't Stop - Another skippable filler. Firefly Child - Well, I love the instrumentation here, I'm not gonna lie. Eyeballin - Same old, same old, and the lyrics are the worst. The instruments just can't carry this one. This feels like a sloppy practice session. R.L. Got Soul - Not a bad instrumental here. Get Over Here - The vocals are so drowned out by the heavy guitars in the mix, and the drums are way too loud as well. The vocals are barely recognizable. Sticky - It's just not for me. It actually pisses me off. I couldn't wait for this to end. I'm speechless. But not in a good way. I mean, what the hell was that? I'm not very familiar with this kind of genre or sound, but it's raw, chaotic, and all over the place. It's like a combination of sonic ingredients from other influences that just don't work together—like a dish where, once you taste it, you just want to throw up. Well, I'm not gonna pretend there is nothing good about this album, because there is. The guitar and drum playing were genuinely great. But they couldn't save this trash album. They buried the vocals so far in the background they felt like an afterthought, and that just doesn't work for me. It's very rare for me to give a rating this low, but this barely scrapes by. Rating: 2 stars Favorite Song: "Dynamite Lover" (Thank God they didn't screw this one up.) Will I listen to it again? Not a chance. I was just glad it was over. Will I recommend this album? No.

“Hot Shit” indeed; if I don’t have to listen to this again it’d be too soon. Sonically interesting but the vocal style really sent me Playlist add: “Wail”

2.5 maybe. starts by screaming?

Messy guitars and 90s production. Unhinged and necessary. Hard to love it tho.

alm, horrible

Grungy, sometimes lo fi. Couple tracks id come back to. You're welcome for this illuminating review.

Interesting album. Some good tracks, others not.

OBS! Plata slutter med Sticky. Skittent og deilig, men ikke JSBE på sitt beste. Albumet fortjene sin plass på veggen på Blå Rock, men ikke et album æ blir å høre aleina igjen.

Going into Now I Got Worry by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, I had never heard of this band. The dark, ominous album cover gave me the impression that I was in for something bleak and unsettling. Unfortunately, this album just didn't do it for me at all. It feels like a collection of noisy, disjointed interludes rather than actual songs. There are 16 tracks, but nothing really develops or stands out. Most of the tracks blur into one another, with lots of noise and repetition, and very little in the way of melody or structure. I found it quite a long and difficult listen. Rather than feeling experimental in an exciting way, it just felt monotonous and, at times, tiresome. I kept waiting for a song to grab me, but it never really happened. Overall, this wasn't for me. I can appreciate that it may appeal to fans of more experimental or noise-driven music, but I struggled to find anything to enjoy here. Favourite track: I couldn't pick one. None of the tracks really worked for me. Least favourite track: Everything on the album. Album artwork: A dark and moody cover, which fits the music, but not something I particularly like.

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion falls into a particular blues-rock bucket in my mind occupied by such luminaries as George Thorogood, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and grandpapa Jimi. I can't fault the skill and passion, and vaguely nurture the feeling that "this would crush live". I always expect to love this stuff more, but get caught by a kind of shallowness to the whole affair. Talent galore, but not saying all that much. I don't know. Maybe it's there and I need to listen more to find it. Til then:

Their appearance on the Australian daytime television program Recovery is genuinely in my top five live performances ever. It’s a clinical release of frenzy and chaos. Starting with a tight rendition of 2Kindsa Love, just to show they can play, it moves to disrespecting cameramen, an insane theremin solo which ends in maxed out abrasive feedback, running through a sleepy crowd who aren’t really into it, destroying the set, attempting to smash their instruments, then bringing it all back together and walking off like consummate professionals. It’s perfect.

Bluesy punk rock. I enjoyed the album overall. Sometimes reminded me of Tom Waits - thinning rain dogs to mule variations period. Has that kind of lofi industrial sound at times.

Jon Spencer has been a fixture of the US Rhythm and Blues scene for 30 years, but hasn't made much of impression here in the YouKay. Listening to this album, I understand why. It's not bad, there are some decent riffs and tunes, and the tracks are short and punchy, but .... on every track I was thinking "Ah, that's his impression of XXX" where XXX could be The Cramps, or Groundhogs, of Nick Cave, or Rolling Stones or White Stripes or.... you get the message.

I've got to admit, I thought this was just another Brian Setzer Orchestra, and BOY WAS I WAAAAY OFF. There's a lot of people on here hating this while loving some British version of White Stripes, and I found that fact highly entertaining. This is the perfect mix of f'd up and really damn good (and I enjoy much weirder music). Easily 4 stars, but never a 5.

Please listen to The Shirehorses Frank Spencer Blues Explosion (which includes Marc Riley of the Fall, already on this list) for a perfect representation of this album.

I hated this from the moment I pressed play, immediately greeted with a horrible loud noise, and it doesn't get better from there. I stuck with this album for the full 45 minutes, I made a rule for myself that during this challenge I will listen to every album in full, no matter what. Some albums have got me close to breaking my rule, and this is one of the closest yet. Most of this just feels like completely random noise, which makes this actually exhausting to listen to as well as being so unpleasant. It's needlessly aggressive, and I know that aggression is a common and essential feature of a punk album, but on this one it doesn't even feel like that aggression is really directed anywhere, it's just loud and angry for the sake of it. I think that sums this album up pretty well, it's basically just completely pointless while trying to do all the things a punk album does, but it completely misses the point of punk as a genre.

I don't know what to make of this. It's all over the place but also isn't a mess - it's listenable, and I don't mean to minimize it in such a way. It's amusing. I listened to an earlier album afterwards, and that clicked almost right away.

Have not heard any JSBE since owning Extra Width in the early '90s. This doesn't stray too far from what I remember. I love the overall feel of uninhibited chaos that runs throughout this release. Guitar tones are atrocious in the best way possible. Lots of MC5 style garage rock fused with traditional blues, played at an amphetamine pace. This is an abominable spectacle and I am celebrating it.

Groovy but also sloppy. A postmodern album in the true 90s sense.

I gotta say, I really dug this shit. Some of it hits really hard, many a great tracks to be found here. They come at you thick and fast and every few songs there'll come a riff that really captivates you and makes you bob your head. Good stuff. Favourites: Wail Dynamite Lover R.L. Got Soul Fish Sauce

Well, "punk blues" is a good descriptor of this album. I've loved this since I bought it on release - bracing and invigorating, it does seem to have a certain essence of blues in there. Stick with the standard album - I don't think the expanded edition adds much.

Pretty good

I normally like raw and with enthusiasm but this did not hit for me.

It feels like hiking and the dude wants mushroom to be tripping, and you tell him those are poisonous my guy, but he is doing it his own way, and he is dead wrong.

Nope

I was expecting more blues and less...shit. What particularly annoyed me is how it occasionally reminded me of artists I love, like Beck and The stooges, whilst remaining a bit shit. It made me start to question my taste.

This Garage Rock album feels like being trapped in a tiny basement while three musicians play at full volume, each seemingly determined to drown out the others. Distorted guitars grind through blues riffs, the drums pound relentlessly, and Jon Spencer shouts, snarls and sneers over the noise. Garage rock, punk and blues collide in a chaotic, disjointed mess that rarely gives my ears a chance to rest. The sound is deliberately raw, but for me, the constant noise becomes grating rather than exciting. The songs lurch between riffs and outbursts without giving me much to hold on to, and the excessive volume makes it difficult to distinguish memorable ideas from sheer abrasion. After a while, I don't feel caught up in the band's wild energy; I just want someone to turn the volume down and let me out of the basement.

skronky rock n roll, often blasting into the red with clipped vocals. plenty of songs that I enjoy, but nothing that makes me want to start it over again once it finishes. I've tried getting into Jon Spencer Blues Explosion over the years, and I'm never disappointed, but never thrilled either. I guess what they were doing was considered somewhat boundary-pushing at the time, but I'm not sure it's held up all that well.

Hadn’t heard of this group before. This went in a lot of directions, and I followed them most of the way. Not really my genre, but it was largely enjoyable.

Loved this band!!

Insane pull. I didn't know an album could oscillate between awesome and boring so quickly and so frequently.

623/1089 - Before listening: "Oh no, another blues rock band... and the reviewers seem to dislike it too." After listening: wtf this was great. It's pretty different from the other blues albums. It's a lot more abrasive and texturally creative. I remember why I stopped reading reviews on this website: my general difference of opinion to the website and all the popular reviews either being moral grandstanding or that one unfunny sex-pest.

You know what? THIS being my 1001st album (instead of something high quality) actually epitomizes this list extremely well. A wise reviewer once said, "maybe there aren't 1001 albums worth listening to." 1 second in and I already know this is 1*. Starting with screaming, and claiming this is blues? The f?

a few tracks jammed then a few scared me 2.4

The name of this band got me excited. First mistake. Unfortunately one I could not commit to, just something that grated on the senses. Not the blues I was hoping for, nor the blues the bands name would suggest. Unfortunate.

Wow. Well, I sure would rather listen to this than Chvrches. I guess that says a lot about me. And… do those boys have themselves a theremin? Well that alone gets a star. 4 Boolean: True - thank you for the weirdness. Someone obviously put their Captain Beefheart to good use.

This was a very charming listen. Lots of hard, dark and rock n roll sounds throughout.It felt very Elvis inspired at times too. Loads of personality bursting from each track…the singers voice had this raw, screechy delivery which only just amplified the overall vibe of the album. I will say some of the tracks felt like fillers but overall it was enjoyable..my fav tracks has to be ‘wail’ and ‘skunk’

Tää oli hämmentävää ja raivoisaa materiaalia koko levy, kuten myös Deluxe-version (minkä kuuntelin)extra biisit. Soitosta tykkäsin eniten.

This was awesome. Weird, but awesome

The JBSE is one of those bands that have always been up my alley: noisy, raucous, emphasis on a wild and distorted live sound. But somehow they never really clicked for me: I'd hear a track that I loved, but then I'd hear the album and ... nah. Thought that was going to be same here: Of the first six tracks, only "Wail" really hits for me. But then "Chicken Dog" starts a winning streak and from there everything stays in the groove, with standouts including "Rocketship," "Hot Shit" and "R.L. Got Soul." Do I love the whole album? Nah, but is there an album's worth of wailin' hot shit that'll make me dance the Chicken Dog? Hell yeah. 3.5 rounding up.

Eclectic, but not really in a good or enjoyable way. 2/5

What a delightfully weird album. Let me just say what’s already been said about that first song though, because it warrants being said again. It’s a total filter. The screaming is a bit torturous, but it’s the only song on the album with that gimmick and if you can get past that, you’re rewarded with a refreshingly unique album. First of all, this sounds different from most of the other Punk Rock albums on the list that I’ve heard so far, and that’s a good thing. This album has an almost charming garage band feel to it that makes it very interesting to listen to. You kind of feel like you’re in the garage listening to these guys play their hearts out. And they really can play well. I didn’t even hate the first song after the first listen honestly. It’s not bad. Interestingly enough, Spotify was down for a good bit of the day, and only the Deluxe edition was available. I tend to avoid the Deluxe edition of albums, but was forced to listen to this one today, and I didn’t even hate that. If it wasn’t a bonus track, I might even say that “Let’s Smerf” was my favorite song on the album. There are also 4 funny “Radio Ads” at the end, and they’re delightfully weird. And that’s something I really like about this guy. He’s a passionate weirdo. But once again, it’s in a charming way that compels me to listen to it. He’s got a great voice sans the screaming in the first song, and the guitarist can absolutely shred the heck out of that guitar. My favorite song on this album was “Wail” for the same reasons. Great singing and great guitar playing. Overall, I almost want to give this album a 4 because it stands out. Standing out in this context would turn most people away from the album, and I completely understand why that is. It’s different. A little too different for most people. But when you’ve heard the same generic sounding British Punk album 100+ times now for this project and then something like this comes on, it’s just refreshing, and I truly appreciate it. Overall, I would return to this album, and added 2 songs from it. It’s a 3.9 out of 5, and I’m glad that I gave it a shot. I was rewarded for my patience after the first song. Good stuff.

Raucous. Has it's moments

Jon Spencer sounds as if The White Stripes went all in on a punk sound and dialled the aggression up several notches. I love the barely coherent outbursts and ramshackle attitude. On the one song where he reduces the energy and mellows out the sound loses all its shape, so I’m glad that the record gets by on mostly blunt force. A cool, weird sound that improves as it goes on.

Low 3 for JSBX from me, plenty of howling fun but a little one note

Ohhh they call themselves “blues” because it makes you sad that you’re listening to them instead of something better

This seems to have taken a bit of a kicking among 1001 reviewers, but I really quite liked this. Overly keen on distortion, deliberately fuzzy and unfinished in its sound, and with the weird almost-Elvis delivery, I can see why it irritates some but it worked for me.

Gear: INAWAKEN Twilight-DS Artwork: ️🫩⚜️⬛ Production: 🎧📢😵‍💫 Music: 😱😖😫 Rating: 💩/5

Some funky, rocking good times in this. The overall effect was sort of annoying, though. A handful of songs on their own would be welcome, as a whole album this didn't work too well. 2.5 stars, rounding down.

jao nzm neke pesme skroz ok al bas me uznemirilo ovo vristanje i sl

What a bad day to have ears!

Rå blues

Not music.

Wow, what a terrible sounding piece of music. Probably reminds some 60 year old about drinking 1 dollar rolling rocks with his buddies, back when the city was different, the good old days, which is why the rest of us have to listen to it. We don't though. We can turn it off.

Made the worst first impression imaginable. Listened to the first 2 songs all the way and didnt like them at all. Skimmed the rest and it all seemed to be pretty rough. Rating: 1/10

listened for a second and realised its trash

Parts were ok and parts were pretty bad. Extremely long and some of it was very unpleasant

Too long by half made this a chore to listen to. Also the Blues in the band title really doesn’t apply

esqueci de avaliar esse xD achei legal, barulho pra caralho (sempre bem vindo)

caralho tomei um jumpscarezaço com o início do album meu deus do ceu quase cai da cadeira ou barulheira boa, hein. os cara num mente nao, eh blues explosion mesmo. loucura demais, caótico pra carai. coisa boa. o show deles deve ser bacana. gostei bastante!

If the first track was any indication, I wasn’t going to enjoy this album. (REVIEW PAUSED WHILE I LISTEN TO THE REST OF THE ALBUM.) Yup. I was correct. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion’s Now I Got Worry is a trainwreck of an album, as if the band grabbed everything that made Jack Black, Cake, and Soul Coughing unique, stripped it of any semblance of artistry, threw it all into a blender, and hit purée. What came out was then poured into a shit-stained glass and presented to the listener as some kind of musical experience. And it would be deceptive, because it would look like a pint of Guinness. A few tracks were rambunctiously alright, but that’s really all they accomplish: keeping the overall rating from a 1. I can at least hear what some people might like about this album. They should have just renamed the album after the tenth track: “Hot Shit.” It would have been more appropriate.

This sounds like The White Stripes, Southern Culture on the Skids, and Soul Coughing were all thrown in someone's garage with 2 microphones and an old cassette recorder and told to make the shittiest versions of themselves they could.

Put the screams in the bag bro

It sounds like this was recorded inside a garage. Nah, I could barely stay awake through the album. 1 star.

Fuck me up fam

No idea what I've just listened to, but track 1 made me restart my audio setup, thinking it started playing noise. I did not like it, I don't want to hear it again.

Nope not wanting to get screamed at

bro the first song just started with screaming I’m scared This was ok…I don’t really think it’s for me really. I didn’t mind the singer and some of the guitar licks but like it was pretty crass and just overall not my thing. It was interesting to listen to though, but I don’t think I would listen to it again. 2.013/5

Senza infamia e senza lode

They left the scratch vocals on by mistake. And, I suspect, the scratch guitars. 1.5 This The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion album was acceptable. I note that Now I Got Worry has a global rating on this site, at the time of writing, of 2.52 - far below any of the three White Stripes albums. Evidently most people prefer this music unexploded, colour-schemed, and with a hint of incest. 1.5/5

JON SPENCER It has a punk/blues aesthetic with lots of gritty distortion. I dig the trashy sounding drum beats and the fuzzy/ noisey bits. The vocals are so cringey for me though- it sounds too much like he is putting on a voice . Almost like he’s alternating between imitating mick jagger and Elvis. Really it sounds just like he is just messing around- it’s not funny. Why am I listening to somebody’s goof off side project?

I dont even know what music is anymore lmao this felt like a prank. There were cool elements here and there

Honestly, just an extra star for the 100% commitment to absurdity. The scream at the beginning…I laughed out loud. This whole album was like a SNL skit of this whole project

An alright chaotic album that needs to be played out loud, was quite surprised at the overall reviews, think it could be 0.5 higher if it had a flashy album cover

421/1001 The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Now I Got Worry Heard before? ❎ Revisit? ❎ There's some great energy on here, but the vocals aren't really my thing tbh. It's definitely something a bit different, so I appreciate it for that.

I think I probably need to take another shot with this album. I feel like it has a lot of the qualities I like... it's a bit edgy a bit loud, a bit experimental but but still rooted in something a little more accessible. Kind of reminds me of an Isaac Brock side project, but one they never really made an impact. I just found the whole thing to feel a bit messy. It feels like I could tell what they were going for but didn't quite pull it off.

Wow, I’ve seen the name Jon Spenser Blues Explosion many times before and every time I’ve assumed they were some blues-y guitar rock band, which has led to me avoiding them. I guess that’s not entirely wrong, but this isn’t the same tired blues licks played over and over again. It’s a bit punk, a bit funk, and pretty damn noisy. That’s two days in a row that I was completely wrong anbout a band; I need to learn to not judge a book by its cover.

This album feels a bit disingenuous and a product of its time, specifically the 90s counterculture. The more I listened to it, the more it reminded me of that specific era, with references to movies like Natural Born Killers or Love and a 45, and vibes that fit right into a David Lynch film. It feels like this album was more appreciated for what it represented, a certain counterculture aesthetic, versus for its actual musical substance. While it likely got high praise from 90s icons like Trent Reznor, the music itself doesn’t seem to hold up as well over time and feels somewhat artificial.

I kinda appreciated how ramshackle and chaotic this album is but it made it hard to really get into to. Just finished listening and I barely remember any of it

It's not the worst 1 star album I've listened to. I tried to appreciate it but it was rough. Just ready for it to be over. There are some decent licks throughout but surrounded by noise.

全体的に重くて、騒がしい。ライブ映えしそうだけど、僕は音数が大量にあるよりは、洗練されている方が好きなので、あまり合わなかった。 グルーブが良い曲もいくつかあったけど。

Not sure what I thought this would be but it was something.

agitated, herky-jerky, lo-fi blues - it sounds like it was recorded using one microphone dangling above the band as they rock their uncle's garage. on the one hand - fresh, not over-worked. on the other hand - "will this do? that's all we can be bothered doing - we're going for a beer, now"

Like a rocket ship going to Mars, Punky blues vibes 🚀 play it loud

Screaming is not a great start.

naxui

A bit weird at first but the back half is pretty good.

The problem with these kinds of 'throwback' albums is that they just end up feeling like an uncharitable caricature of the music they're paying tribute to. I don't get the point of making a cruder, louder, stupider version of 50s rock when I can just listen to 50s rock instead. If I didn't know any better I would've thought this was a parody of rock'n'roll by someone who hated it. Feels like White Zombie's lame little brother.

Some really good parts and some less than successful experiments -

270. bull

weird and noisy but not unlistenable, just not for me ig.

This album is a beautiful mess for the mid 60's. Pretty innovative for the time pre Zep and- what's that? 1996!? Ok that idiocy aside, album is actually pretty entertaining. Not sure if I would classify it as GOOD, but at least it's interesting. This album is like that idiot friend you only ever see when they're completely wasted, but they're always fun to hang around even if it's a bit embarrassing when you're seen together. 4/5.

I know, it’s not perfect, but it’s the kind of work I find exciting and authentic. Product of a place, time, and tormented mind. These guys have pedigree. Great discovery!

oh no.. this is dog shit