REVIEW: Boss Hog, White Out (In The Red)
- Matthew Carlin
Since it's trite to call Cristina Martinez and Jon Spencer the sexiest couple in indie rock, and since the promo copy of the couple's new Boss Hog platter White Out doesn't have any liner notes anyway (let alone any nudie pics), we'll just stick to the music here.
A decidedly kitsch affair, White Out is full of cheesy keyboards and chintzy-sounding drums with Jon Spencer guitar riffs slapped on top. The album-opening title track sets the tone with a kind of pseudo-slap bass and shouty chorus straight out of the rockin' '80s. And I'm pretty sure I heard an electronic hand clap on the intro to the wonderfully titled "Itchy & Scratchy." Though this already-commonplace '80s nostalgia is certainly a frightening trend in music, it rather suits the playful tone of this album.
While Martinez handles most of the singing with a pretty standard hipster deadpan, the tunes on which Spencer shares vocal duties are spirited, peppy and way more fun. "Chocolate" kicks some major ass with nice interplay between the keyboard and guitar and patented Spencer lyrics about "eating fish sticks," and non-sequitur yelps like "Dirty movie!," "Pass the hatchet," and the soon-to-be-classic line about "kissin' and a huggin' and a motherfuckin'."
It's probably no coincidence that the best tracks on White Out, poppy rockers like the aforementioned "Chocolate" and "Fear For You," have a lot in common with the tunes on Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's far superior ACME. And duds like "Get It While You Wait" do away with the dirtier Blues Explosion-style elements in favor of the straight '80s pop. On the whole, the new Boss Hog isn't offensive, but it certainly doesn't make a strong case for taking Spencer's Orange off the turntable or serve up any tunes more hummable than the supremely catchy "Magical Colors" from ACME.
