MC5 - Kick Out The Jams (1967)

(originally posted on Facebook)


MC5 is called a "protopunk" band by Wikipedia. Typically "prototype" music is interesting to hear because genres tend to evolve spontaneously and only in retrospect do we look back and find the roots. Strangely the roots of a genre often stand above the music they spawn. For example, Led Zeppelin made much better music than any of the hair metal bands that tried to copy their formula.

This is largely because music genres tend to develop in pretty lazy ways. One band makes it big, so a bunch of other bands essentially copy what they do and try to ride in their wake, leading to legendary trailblazers and countless middling or forgettable copycats.

As a genre, I tend to have little patience for punk. I mean... I get it and all. Punk is a response to the self-indulgence and complexity supposedly plaguing rock music in the late 60s and early 70s. Led Zeppelin were just getting started and were already known (some would say notorious) for extending their studio songs on stage with jam sessions and improvised solos. The Who were about to release their second concept album, this one a double-album rock opera. Then there were progressive rock bands like King Crimson, Yes, and Pink Floyd who were completely ignoring simplicity and restraint. For many the pomposity of these bands was a major turn-off.

Punk was not only a sharp turn away from musical flamboyance, it was a culmination of a lot of cultural angst, particularly by youths aimed at a conservative ruling class...

OK, I was kinda getting lost in thoughts I felt were poignant, but as I was writing the previous paragraph the last song of the album, a song called "Starship" started playing and I realized how smarmy and full of shit I can be. It's suddenly clear to me why MC5 is called "protopunk" now. This song is exactly what punk music was trying to rebel against. Most of this "song" consists of an improvised jam session filled with guitar distortion and fuzz along with stupid sound effects such as the musicians whistling. The drums crash randomly as the lead singer talks about whimsical intelligences that exist beyond the stars. It sounds like something out of This Is Spinal Tap.

Punk is supposed to be about simple guitar riffs (as Crow T Robot once riffed, "Chord, chord, chord, chord, chord, chord, other chord), fast banging beats, and lyrics that are more violently yelled than sung. This sort of weird, acid-trippy crap just doesn't fit. In fact it would make most punk afficianados really angry.

Anyway, I started this review thinking Kick Out The Jams might have something interesting to say about punk music as it comes from a band that existed before punk really emerged. Instead it seems MC5 is pretty much just a loud and obnoxious blues/psychedelic rock band, at least on this album. I suppose this being their first album there might be more to how they developed as a group and how they fostered the genre. Unfortunately, this is the only album by MC5 on my big list, and I wasn't impressed enough to try and seek out anything else.

Well, I didn't hate it, and I can see why it's an important album in rock history. I guess at the very least it is loud and raw, which was pretty new in 1969 when this album arrived. Whatever, 2 stars.