Going Way Out With Heavy Trash

Jon Spencer (Pussy Galore, Blues Explosion) and Matt Verta-Ray (Madder Rose, Speedball Baby) combined forces for a punk-charged take on rockabilly and other roots music with 2005’s self-titled debut. Nothing broke in the process and for once Spencer couldn’t be accused of mocking the music with a hipster’s sneer as has often been the complaint. So the duo haven’t tried to fix a thing on the 2007 follow-up, Going Way Out With Heavy Trash. Much like many of the rockabilly records of the 1950s, a good selection of which can be sampled on the Rhino collection Rockin’ Bones for starters, Heavy Trash specialize in a crazed enthusiasm that’s sparked by a manic, impatient beat and guitarists that wait like expert knife-wielders anxious to burst into action with quick, slashing riffs. “Pure Gold,” “They Were Kings” and “Kissy Baby” sound as if they could’ve come straight from the ‘50s. The duo are backed by Canadian root rockers and labelmates the Sadies and members of a few Denmark roots rockers as well. For high weirdness, “You Can’t Win” ends things with a disjointed pastiche of studio chatter and messing around.