Kick Out the Jams: A Short Critical History

Dr. X posts this from Neumos:

In the beginning there was the MC5.

"Kick Out the Jams" was originally a rejoinder to the self-indulgent and sometimes low-energy jamming of British bands when they came through Detroit.  Attempts to connect its message to Marxist dialectics are ill-advised.  It is not intended to be a coherent socioeconomic statement.  It is intended as an artistic manifesto, and a denunciation of bands that don't try.

Sammy Hagar:  "It's just so intense...it's so uptempo...and yelling and screaming, and belligerent.  It sounded like it was ready to fall apart the second it started."

As linked below, MC5 were playing it like this in 1970 (*****).  Later on they did it like this (****).

Despite the passing of front man Rob Tyner and guitarist Fred "Sonic" Smith in the early 90s, MC5 has played together in various incarnations and officially re-formed in 2003 (website here).  Here is an excellent 1997 version of "Kick Out the Jams" from a band with two original MC5 players, guitarist Wayne Kramer and drummer Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson.  Can you call it self-indulgent if it's ridiculously good?  I'm going with...no (****).

The song eventually became a touchstone of sorts, and, I would say, a pure test of intention and rock capability.  I can't think of any other song that so punishes lack of commitment (or a drummer).  Just playing the notes correctly isn't enough, as this version (**) illustrates.

This is not to say that skill counts for nothing.  The PUSA brief homage (****) is not the craziest or fastest (and can it really be "Kick Out the Jams" if you don't shout "mother...fuckers!") but...you may have noticed...the PUSA know how to play rock music correctly.  They understand the song, they bring total commitment, and they're done before you know what hit you.  Yes, the lyrics are sanitized, but how else are you going to play it at Mount Rushmore? (*** 1/2*)



But, and I say this seriously:  "Kick Out the Jams" is high art because it is immutable:  it really cannot be remade into anything else.  You could sing Running With the Devil as a blues tune, and actually, it would probably be better (well, judge for yourself).  The Dickies demonstrated that almost any rock ballad can be transformed into a serviceable speedpunk rant.  But you can't play "Kick Out the Jams" too fast or you lose the (real) poetry in the lyrics, and you can't play it too slow or you lose the sexual urgency.  It is not easy to do right.  But when you're doing it right...well I guess the song covers that.

Perhaps this immutability explains the disastrous Rage Against the Machine version.  They make it their own, and it sucks (1/2*).

I am much fonder of Trent Reznor's raid on the tune (****) with Street Sweeper Social Club last year.  This song seems to work well when a fat guy with big hair sings it (hence the PUSA lyric, "I shaved off my perm").

Blue Oyster Cult got it mostly right (****), though I could wish for less Yin and more Yang.  Pearl Jam and Mudhoney strike a better balance, and high grades, too, for energy and execution (**** 1/2*):



This one, with the estimable Jerry Cantrell is ok too (*** 1/2*), but a little too stadium for my taste.

It is impossible to disrespect the Henry Rollins/Bad Brains version (***), but it's also hard to like.

I believe this version, which blends the MC5, PUSA and Mudhoney personnel (Mark Arm appearing seemingly from thin air at 3:50) and implementations, while simultaneously mocking Rage Against the Machine, must be regarded as definitive:



It's a national treasure, ******.  Good night Miss Mackenzie, wherever you are.