from the LP Kick Out the Jams, Elektra Records, 1969
“After some good tokes and a six pack, we can sock 'em out for you ‘til you're flat on your back; you know I got to keep it up ‘cause I'm a natural man, I'm a born hell raiser and I don't give a damn…” So much has been written about this ragtag bunch of white boys from Detroit that attempting to add anything new or uniquely enlightened to that discussion just seems a bit trite; with that being said, please forgive me the masturbatory indulgence of that which follows. Taped live over a handful of nights in the fall of ’68 at the MC5’s stomping grounds, the Grande Ballroom in Motor City, this revolutionary album endures as a mammoth middle-finger to the entirety of establishment. The liveliness & power of the crowd’s energy was matched only by the MC5’s willingness to give it their all every night they played, rocking out with their cocks out, a living concept album both about and for catalyzing multiple orgasms; lead singer Rob Tyner fucking lets you know, “…I’m the man for you baby, yes I am for you baby; said I’m the man for you baby, yes I am for you baby…I’m the man for ya…” The spellbinding dual-lead guitar attack of Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith and Wayne Kramer pulverizes your ass into a sopping-wet, bloody puddle of mush; they just give it to you, over and over, ‘cause they know we can take it. The perpetual debate over where exactly punk rock began always includes the MC5, along with Motown compatriots The Stooges, the entire mid ‘60s garage rock scene, and often the Kinks---as useless as such discussions prove to be, I’d bet the farm on these cats…come on, nobody else was saying things like, “…kick out the jams, motherfuckers!!” back in 1968…!...okay, the Fugs probably were, but they were too busy jerking off in front of Russian tanks in Prague to be bothered…but I digress… The velocity, the anarchic political stance, their grubby-nappy-asses---these dudes were punk a good 5 or 6 years before such a thing was a formal scene. Although they never changed their anti-authoritarian posturing, a slew of unsupportive record deals & the imprisonment of their mentor/manager John Sinclair proved to be enough to unravel the mighty momentum they fashioned in these, their halcyon days. Anyone with even an inkling of rebellion or sass in their souls cannot help but be stirred and enlivened by the fortitude found within the grooves of this LP; truly, both the feel & message of this recording are nearly unmitigated in their ability to stir the pot, as it were. “Total assault on the culture by any means necessary, including rock-n-roll, dope, and fucking in the streets…" Dig it, man!
from the LP Kick Out the Jams, Elektra Records, 1969
