Heavy Trash: Going Way Out

Jon Spencer's career has always posed a dilemma to rockophiles, because while his tongue-in-cheek approach to electric blues and rockabilly strikes some as a mockery, most of the time, Spencer's music genuinely rocks. On Going Way Out, his second album with Matt Verta-Ray under the name Heavy Trash, Spencer nods to Eddie Cochran on "Crazy Pritty Baby," brings in a touch of Bo Diddley on "Double Line," and even tries a slap-happy New York Dolls-style strut on "Outside Chance." There may be too much "because we can" to Heavy Trash's music, which raises questions about the band's conviction. But it's hard to argue with a song like "They Were Kings," a straight-up raver, only partly in quotes.