#370: MC5 - Kick Out the Jams (1969)

Zack: Now this is what I’m fucking talking about! Right away, this album called me a motherfucker, and I knew I was in good hands. MC5 had the balls to introduce themselves to the world with a live album, and I can’t imagine them doing it any other way. Multiple takes and editing are for suckers. Kick out the Jams is explosive from the very start to the very end. MC5 pack so much into 40 minutes that I wouldn’t be surprised if vinyl copies of this album count as a renewable energy source. You can hear everything that would happen in the punk movement over the next 10 years right hear: From Iggy and the Stooges debut only one year later up to The Sex Pistols. Kick out the James is a must-listen for sure for anyone who wants to understand that part of American and British music. On a final note, though, I want to call out Lester Bangs, a person I just learned existed, who was dubbed “America’s Greatest Rock Critic” by someone who is cited on Wikipedia. Apparently, Kick out the James was Bangs first ever review for Rolling Stone, and he called it a “ridiculous, overbearing, pretentious album.” I…but…that doesn’t even make sense. For starters, I honestly don’t think I could come up with a less pretentious album if you paid and/or threatened me. Second, who says ridiculous has to be a bad thing? And third, overbearing? Now who’s pretentious? In summation (yes, this is now a thesis), don’t listen to Lester Bangs. Listen to me. Listen to this album.

Favorite Tracks: Motor City Is Burning; Kick out the Jams; I Want You Right Now

Emily: Occasionally, I find myself wishing that we decided to listen to the albums in chronological order. Now, of course I realize that we probably would've quit partway through the '50s if that were the case, but in some instances it would have been interesting to chart the course of a band or a genre as it evolved over the years and decades instead of piecing it all together like a puzzle. Kick Out the Jams is definitely one of the more important puzzle pieces in the patchwork of punk we've gone through so far, and I wish we could have listened to it sooner. It's from 1969, which is a bit too early to truly be considered punk, and it does have songs that stretch longer than 3 minutes, which the genre all but abandoned by the late '70s. However, every punk album for the rest of the decade seems to hearken back to what MC5 did here. The music is fast and powerful, the lyrics are controversial, and the attitude is sneering and ass-kicking. While these hallmarks of the genre evolved over the following years, MC5 seemed to be starting it all.

Favorite Tracks: Kick Out the Jams; Borderline; Motor City is Burning