Albums by this artist

Whiteout (2000)

Boss Hog

Whiteout

---

» PIERO SCARUFFI | STAFF WRITER

Boss Hog Whiteout In The Red, 2000 RiYL: Royal Trux, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Pussy Galore, Delta 72

Boss Hog's latest outing, White Out, finds beguiling frontwoman Christina Martinez -- also known as the wife of her Pussy Galore cohort Jon Spencer -- in top form. Somehow, the album updates Boss Hog's sound to a unique brand of dance music without sacrificing the group's prominent garage-blues roots. Martinez has listened to a lot of drum loops and has matured as a songwriter and performer. The convergence of such favorable signs yields songs that satisfy both the body and the brain, intellectual exercises that are also party-ready.

Spencer's deconstructed blues permeate White Out, and Spencer himself lends a hand on "Chocolate" and "Jaguar," two fragrant additions to the garage rock canon. Slowly, one starts to appreciate the post-modern show that Martinez has set up: there are snippets of oldies in every song, and the record as a whole sounds like a collection of covers, even though no song is a cover itself.

The smooth, easy-listening vibe of "Nursery Rhyme," the psychedelic refrain of "Sterolight," the funky-soul number "Fear For You," and the girl-group anthem "Trouble" all hark back to the sounds of the '60s, at once propelled by steady beats and derailed by dirty guitar work. "Get It While You Wait" has the panache of a Tamla Records ditty and the passion of an Alanis Morissette hit, embodying this album's quest for nostalgic/modernistic balance.

"Itchy & Scratchy," nailed down by a syncopated, funky groove and pierced by an "acid" organ solo, serves an even more fascinating blend of the two worlds. Bassist Jens Jurgensen and drummer Hollis Queens interpret Martinez's vision with manic agility, while keyboardist Mark Boyce gives a soul to that restless body. In song after song, the guitars work magic with their trademark tawdry riffs.

On White Out, Boss Hog may have just reinvented party music for the new generation, in much the same way Pussy Galore did for the punk generation and Spencer's Blues Explosion did for the college-rock crowd.

PIERO SCARUFFI | Piero Scaruffi runs the exhaustive music database Scaruffi.com. A native of Italy, he has also been praised for his work on the General Theory of Relativity, formal theories of the mind, and artificial intelligence. And no, we aren't making that up.