This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
What’s in a name? Well, if you’re Blues Explosion, two fewer words.
Fans will recall this New York blooz-rawk outfit as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. But don’t worry — Spencer is still here, and apart from the name nothing drastic has changed on the band’s seventh album. The lumpy lurching grooves, greasy guitar licks, lascivious lyrics and evangelical echo-chamber growl we’ve all come to love and expect are still in full effect. Admittedly, this a tad more artful and varied than their rawer early efforts. Tracks like the Elvis-bongo freakout Spoiled, the mutant gospel of You Been my Baby and the topical Hot Gossip — co-starring Chuck D of Public Enemy — find the boys spreading their wings a little, as do knob-twiddling collaborations with DJ Shadow and Dan the Automator. Really, though, once you scrape away the sonic weirdness, Damage is another solid Blues Explosion disc that lives by the motto: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
