Boss Hog
Whiteout

I think I spent more time trying to classify Boss Hog into a musical genre than writing this raw commentary.
It's because it's hard to fit this peculiar band into the narrow confines of a musical genre. I chose "alternative" because if by that term we mean an alternative interpretation of a musical past with various facets by a band... then Boss Hog can be defined as alternative.

After five years spent "being a mom," the beautiful Cristina Martinez and her devoted band return with a cocktail of deep-rooted garage - blues sounds, a touch of psychedelia with the refrain of "Stereolight," some funky soul with "Fear For You"... all shaken up with a good dose of quality pop and inevitably spiced with rooted beats and dirty riffs.
This album is to be served at a party among "alternative" but not crazed friends... It's an album of "our years": appreciated by those who can reinterpret their collection of cult CDs in light of a consciousness of those musical experiences (dance, pop...) that, as much as they largely annoy me, have extractable and recontextualizable elements.

In short, Boss Hog is a product of this forest of influences where songs like "Whiteout" or "Get it While You Wait" are so originally pop.
Cristina has tidied up and her vocal lines have become "catchy"... but never trivial within the instrumental context. Her husband Jon Spencer (Blues Explosion) skillfully reworks his wife's ideas as the spokesperson of Indie Blues. Bass and guitar resound with dirty bluesy riffs to unite with the keyboard's call, which holds a skillfully calibrated role, never overshadowing the rest.
It's evident that this is a thought-out work, where the punkish Boss Hog wanted to enrich themselves, chew up the rest... with this album that concludes with the "racing-car" pace of "Monkey," which hilariously betrays the band's punk past.

It's not the "album of a lifetime" but a review on them couldn't be missed, especially this album can't be missing in the car CD holder in the summer! bye bye