Dub Narcotic Sound System Meets the John Spencer Blues Explosion in a Dancehall Style

Olympia! New York City! Here it is, the long-rumoured project two years in the making, the synthesis between two blazing rock’n’garage blow-out hybrids, Dub Narcotic Sound System meets The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in a Dancehall Style! Throwdown the funk-ass booty shake and get loose, go horizontal, get your Sideways Soul saved out on the dancefloor where it belongs.

A history of the meeting: the basic tracks for Sideways Soul were recorded in a blitzkrieg session with The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion when the band hooked up with Calvin Johnson (Selector Dub Narcotic, Dub Narcotic Sound System, Halo Benders, Beat Happening and grand poobah) at his Dub Narcotic Studio in Olympia, Washington during the Spring of 1997. But the seeds were planted for the collaboration much earlier than that.

In 1995, Jon Spencer called up Calvin Johnson out of the blue, feuled by his admiration for Beat Happening, and asked him if he would contribute a remix for an upcoming project. Calvin agreed and picked the track “Soul Typecast”, which appeared on the JSBX release Experimental Remixes on Matador Records the same year, billed as the Dub Narcotic Sound System remix. Calvin’s only stipulation for the fruits of his efforts was that the band had to come to Olympia and do a recording session—adequate compensation, to be sure. While on tour in 1997, the band made good on their promise, returning the favor with two days of full-on track burning, leaving Calvin with many a song to do with as he desired. In 1998 the JSBX released Acme, an album featuring rotating producers and engineers. JSBX used the basic tracks from their Olympia sessions for three songs on that record, and even paid tribute to the Dub Narcotic influence, succinctly naming the album’s leadoff song “Calvin”. Also in 1998, offered a hint of those JSBX sessions with the inclusion of “Blues Explosion Attack” on Selector Dub Narcotic (KLP082).

Sideways Soul is reminiscent of the collaborative idea fostering the Halo Benders (Calvin with Built To Spill’s Doug Martsch), but with high octane garage/funk as the fuel. Summoning The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion as the ultimate wild, sexy and flamboyant house band, the patented baritone-gone-mental of Dub Narcotic Sound System smears raw freaky tirades across the musical canvas. Frenetic grooves run deep and worn, made to grind it out for the party to witness, a primitive display of soul and punk gone crazy. There’s only one true way to describe Sideways Soul: Dub Narcotic Sound System meets The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in a Dancehall Style!

The digital version of this album is available from Bandcamp