Dub Narcotic Meets Jon Spencer Blues Explosion In A Dancehall Style: Sideways Soul

In 1995, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion released Experimental Remixes, an EP that included a remix by Calvin Johnson, a.k.a. Dub Narcotic. As payment for his services, Johnson requested a recording session with the Blues Explosion, and two years later, the band made good on its promise, spending two days in his studio. Some of the results can be heard on the Blues Explosion album Acme, particularly the songs "Talk About The Blues" and "Calvin." The bulk of the session can now be heard on Sideways Soul, a party album that marries Johnson's Lurch-esque croonings and the Blues Explosion's bar-blues leanings. Sideways Soul is loose, even sloppy, but its sense of spontaneity is ultimately winning; the participants all sound like they're having fun, and their joy is infectious. Listen, for example, to the goofy theme and repetitively catchy opening track, "Banana Version," and try not to smile. The Blues Explosion is no stranger to bouts of absurdity, but the band on its own couldn't get away with "Fudgy The Whale," in which Johnson rattles off the 16 dances sweeping Olympia's karaoke bars, including the butt nut, the pushy bar, and the Nutter Butter stomp. Nor could Dub Narcotic swagger quite as much as it does with the Blues Explosion. More than a masturbatory indie-rock who's-who, Sideways Soul is a fun, rocking set that connects two like-minded but far from identical groups.