Surely you’ve missed the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion since they disappeared at the start of the century. Throughout the ’90s, Spencer, Judah Bauer and Russell Simins were the soul of skuzzy blues and fuzz-tone freak-outs. During the nasty-ass grunge decade, they were a handsome unit that stood out like a well-manicured thumb. They made a nine-year run of damaged classic albums and EPs for Matador (including the threadbare A Ass Pocket of Whiskey with R.L. Burnside) that pockmarked the pop landscape. Why the Blues Explosion flamed out at exactly the time The Black Keys and The White Stripes came to prominence, I’ll never know. Luckily, they’re back to devil-may-care swagger on the just-released Meat and Bone, with its best songs (“Get Your Pants Off,” “Boot Cut”) sounding bruised and blue like always.
Sat., Oct. 6, 9 p.m., $15-$17, with Krass Brothers, Underground Arts at the Wolf Building, 1200 Callowhill St., undergroundarts.org.
