Spencer Dickinson
The Man Who Lives For Love

"The man who lives for love."

Here, apart from the title, there is nothing sappy or sugary; it's not about teenagers locking themselves in their room with a girlfriend, shutters down, to work their tongue unbeknownst to their poor parents who went to the movies that evening. No, here they play dirty, and the girlfriend is replaced with thirsty buddies eager for beer, music magazines, and cigarettes.

If I had never listened to it or, in the worst case, never known it, I would buy this album just for the immense cover that greatly resembles the Italian crime film posters of the '70s.

Hard to find, it was released by Zebra Ranch on the Japanese market in 2001 and remained there for four years, then thanks to a small label (Yep Roc), it reached markets worldwide.

This badass or cheeky collaboration (depending on one's tastes) between singer-guitarist Jon Spencer (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) and the Luther and Cody Dickinson brothers, already the minds behind the North Mississippi All-Stars, stems from the idea of Jim Dickinson (producer of the dynamic "Acme" Blues Explosion 1998), the father of the two brothers who, for the love of family and a morbid fascination for music, put them in the "basement" to work with Jon.

What emerges are nineteen tracks totaling 74 minutes (perhaps too many) that smell of hard-rock, garage, and noise, the uncontested hallmark of Spencer's house, with the addition, however, of splashes of Mississippi blues (dirty? revamped) and alternative-country from the two Dickinsons.

To say that the album in question is a "masterpiece" would be false, but we are certainly dealing with a genuine project, made in a basement with little reasoning but with a lot of sweat. Recommended to all followers of Mr. Spencer, always ready to manipulate, grind, recycle, and disrupt in his own way, anything or any sound reminiscent of garage rock. You'll turn up the volume until the stereo collapses, disturbing the neighbors. Meanwhile, fans of the North Mississippi All-Stars will have to lower the volume and be content with the few crumbs left on the table, as unfortunately, they'll struggle to recognize their idols.

Coccagnocca