Live Review: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, HITS

It's a relatively early start for rock reprobates HITS and they seem in fine fettle from the get-go, a recent bout of southern shows no doubt responsible for their strong form.

As per usual manic frontman Evil Dick wanders the stage spewing forth his vindictive diatribes flanked by mayhem-inducing guitarists Tamara Bell and Stacey Coleman, while the rhythm section of bassist Andy Buchanan and prodigal drummer Gregor Mulvey — finally back behind the kit following an injury-enforced layoff — lay down a thunderous bed for them to spew forth the rock upon. It's slightly incongruous seeing them play in front of a massive American flag draped behind them — obviously belonging to the headliners — but upon even a cursory listen to tracks like Jesus F Christ, Bitter And Twisted, Take Your Pills, Disappointed and Never Sing A Song Again is enough to betray this mob's fine-tuned Aussie heritage and sensibility. They throw in a brand new number which is scabrous and scathing but typically catchy, before finishing with an incendiary take on Peter And Paul — nothing out of the ordinary for HITS tonight, merely another world-class set of debaucherous rock'n'roll of the highest calibre, just par for the course really.

Soon enough New York rock lifers Jon Spencer Blues Explosion take the stage and kick straight into one of their notoriously sleazy grooves, the sound immediately pristine as they set sail on a rock'n'roll odyssey encapsulating all angles of their storied career. As they throw in Get Down Lover and their cover of Beastie Boys' She's On It, the snaking guitars of Jon Spencer and Judah Bauer and the unrelenting drum barrage courtesy of Russell Simins make them one of those guitar bands that just demands dancing, with archetypical showman Spencer up front grunting and exhorting and throwing down the gauntlet to the crowd to get their rock on with his constant cries of 'Blues Explosion!' or homilies like 'Are you ready?' punctuating the maelstrom at regular junctures. They're here promoting recent album Freedom Tower — No Wave Dance Party 2015 and tracks like The Ballad Of Joe Buck and Cooking For Television sound brilliant in the live ream, with old classics like I Wanna Make It All Right still packing a punch and Simins lending his guttural voice to What Love Is. It's an unrelenting and powerful barrage of precision groove-based rock with some cool effects thrown in for good measure, and they still go super-hard given their vintage, Spencer sermonising like a man possessed throughout tunes like The Feeling Of Love, Tales Of Old New York: The Rock Box and Down In The Beast before throwing down the mic stand and stalking the stage manically as they finish the set proper with the fast and furious Cowboy. They return for an extended second helping — highlights including Blowing My Mind and Bauer voicing the primal Fuck Shit Up — and then they're gone from whence they came, leaving behind just the dormant American flag as evidence of tonight's tasty trans-Pacific rock'n'roll accord.