At London’s enjoyably intimate venue, The Lexington, Jon Spencer and his rockabilly outfit Heavy Trash treated an audience of greasers, music biz types and not a few fans of Spencer’s better known group, the Blues Explosion, to an enjoyable evening of rock’n’roll, – all delivered with Spencer’s trademark menacing edge.
Rockabilly punk, psycho-billy, hillbilly blues, whatever way you choose to categorise it, this music is never going to change the world but having someone like Spencer belt it out certainly makes the planet a better place to be.
Heavy Trash live favourites, such as ‘Nervis’, inspired by the Willie Dixon song ‘Nervous’, featured in a set that also included tracks from forthcoming album Midnight Soul Serenade, which is out in October. This included the album’s distinctly Spencer-esque version of 1950s rhythm and blues legend LaVern Baker’s ‘Bumble Bee’.
Spencer, playing a well-loved classic Gibson acoustic guitar, took on lead singing duties for most of the set, showing off his impressive vocal range. But while he is a showman, in the classic style of the 1950s rock ‘n’roll icons he clearly worships, he is also happy to let the rest of the band share the limelight, including guitarist Matt Verta-Ray.
Verta-Ray’s twanging, gold vintage Gibson guitar is inspiring stuff and his turn as lead singer reveals a capable vocalist, whose sweetness of sound contrasts well with Spencer’s mean edge.
With further live dates around the world to support the new album, there are many worse ways to kick the autumn blues than spending an evening in the company of Heavy Trash.
* Support came from Gin Palace in their last London show for the time being as lead singer Meaghan Wilkie soon to go on maternity leave. The band was in fine form, with Wilkie’s humour and contentment giving a new twist to lyrics once written with rage and bile.
by Jennifer Whitehead, Sept 2009
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