Japandroids, “Young Hearts Spark Fire”
This was the song that launched the Japandroids, rattling around enough on blogs to get the band the attention that would make their career. It’s a solid capsule of their sound, all fuzzy guitars, propulsive drumming, and catchy shouting. It’s easy to see how people got excited for this, and the excitement would pay off with Post-Nothing and to a greater extent Celebration Rock.
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, “Lap Dance”
This comes to us from one of the leftovers records that JSBX put out, this one collecting miscellany from Acme. The leftovers records are actually not bad, generally, even if they are kind of shaggy. The truth is that peak JSBX was just fun to listen to, even if maybe they weren’t doing their best material. Anyway, this record is Xtra-Acme USA, and it’s not something to pick up until you’ve worn out the proper albums, but if you’re a JSBX freak you should absolutely listen to it.
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