Heavy Trash, Going Way Out with Heavy Trash (Yep Roc Records)

Around the time of Orange, I was deeply into Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and bought a number of Spencer-related projects. After hearing a year or so of his work, I was less convinced of his wonderfulness. Rather than sounding post-modern, he started sounding like a guy who has so many ideas that he can’t trust or commit to any of them and, when in doubt, trashed shit up. “Raw” and “primitive” seemed less like aesthetic choices and more like dodges.

Nothing on the new album by Heavy Trash—Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray—makes me think I’m wrong, but there’s a lot of fun and love of rock ’n’ roll evident, and that goes a long way. Spencer and Verta-Ray still love distorted guitars, distorted vocals and the garage punk trappings, but the album doesn’t sound like it exists to prove a point. With less obvious concept, it’s easier to enjoy well-crafted pop songs such as “Outside Chance” and “Crying Tramp,” the rockabilly “Kissy Baby” and “They Were Kings,” and the punk “I Want Oblivion.”