Solex Vs. Cristina Martinez & Jon Spencer - Amsterdam Showdown, King Street Throwdown!

Before we assess the music, let's unpick the personnel. Elisabeth Esselink (aka Dutch songwriter Solex), meet husband and wife duo Jon Spencer and Cristina Martinez, frontman of Blues Explosion and both constituent members of Boss Hog.

If the ‘Vs.’ between their billing connotes a battle over artistic direction, Solex won - this is decidedly her creation, with little of the raw punk-blues of Spencer and Martinez’ other bands discernable in the mix. Though, with the record appropriating a diverse range of influences (it’s unsurprising that Esselink runs a record shop when she isn’t composing kitsch collages), raw punk-blues is one of the few genres this doesn't touch.

Its retro-futuristic aesthetic resembles Cornelius remixing The B-52s: horn stabs, hip hop beats, lounge-core chill-out and more crop up, and while the result is admirably miscellaneous (Damon Albarn in his Gorillaz-guise would no doubt approve), it frequently gets stuck in a rut (sorry, ‘groove’). A mixed bag, with mixed results. [Chris Buckle]