Midnight Soul Serenade

iTunes Review

Heavy Trash, the duo of ex-Pussy Galore and Blues Explosion leader Jon Spencer and ex-Madder Rose / Speedball Baby guitarist Matt Verta-Ray, deconstruct the blues, speed up the rockabilly, highlight the R&B, and mess around like the old veteran punks they are. Whether locked away in Verta-Ray’s NYC recording studio N.Y. Hed or hanging out at Toe Rag in London, this dynamic duo once again twist and contort everything you know about the blues for their third studio album. “The Pill” features an odd mechanical handclap, an ominous vocal mumble and creepily distorted lead vocals that flirt with falsetto for an extra-terrestrial sound that for five and half minutes grinds things to a near halt. Much of the rest sounds like a band jamming in front of a funhouse mirror that’s mutating everything in sight. “Pimento” is a hangover instrumental. “(Sometimes You Got To Be) Gentle” transmits its vocals from outerspace while the band cranks up the amps. “Sweet Little Bird” rattles with voodoo ghosts and gospel spirits. It’s a sleazy old sound resurrected and brought back to life.