November 8, 1998
I'm A Lucky Guy
As if ransacking the state of Mississippi for 'legendary' octogenarian bluesmen weren't enough of a task for [a]Jon Spencer[/a]...
4 / 10
AS IF RANSACKING THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI for 'legendary' octogenarian bluesmen weren't enough of a task for Jon Spencer, now his silent sidekick, Blues Explosion guitarist Judah Bauer, feels duty-bound to continue this perplexing odyssey.
On a recent journey, Judah unearthed some fossils called Spam and at least two named RL and decided that they would play on the first record by his splinter project, 20 Miles, a band he and his drumming sibling Donovan formed a few years back in a bid to counter the Blues Explosion's increasingly 'modern' outlook.
Obviously, they learnt their lesson, as 'I'm A Lucky Guy', their second album, is strictly an OAP-free, Bauer brothers-only effort, though frankly it'd be hard to tell the difference. Because thanks to the wonders of technology, this actually sound like it was recorded 60 years ago in a barn. Worryingly, that's probably the point.
For as frightening as it seems, the Bauers are under the bizarre anthropological illusion that if they don't document their passion for rustic, porch-front, JD-soaked blooze standards like 'East St Louis' and 'Not So Long', the genre might die out.
Now that would be a shame, wouldn't it?
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