Any new Electric Six record lives in the shadow of two things: the band’s incredible live show (QRO review), and their debut/breakthrough record, Fire, especially its classics "Gay Bar" and "Danger! High Voltage". It took the Detroit band a few years to follow-up Fire, but they have been putting out a record a year for a few years now, most recently with last year’s Flashy (QRO review). And now comes Kill, which still needs to fully step out of those shadows to fully be appreciated.
Click here for QRO’s interview with Dick Valentine last year
Click here for QRO’s interview with Dick Valentine in 2006
Click here for QRO’s review of Electric Six at Hiro Ballroom in New York, NY on October 16th, 2009
Click here for QRO’s review of Electric Six at Middle East in Cambridge, MA on November 21st, 2008
The band’s mock-rock has gotten heavier since Flashy, but also more electric – just plain more, really. They even go mock-disco-dance at times, such as opener "Body Shot", or "Rubbin’ Me the Wrong Way" & "One Sick Puppy". But this is definitely a bigger record, from the bigger guitars of "Waste of Time and Money" to the mock-anthemistic "The Newark Airport Boogie". That means it doesn’t hook quite as immediately as some previous work, but "Escape From Ohio" is automatically hilarious, and the rhythmic "I Belong In a Factory" will stick in the head.
If, for their new record, you’re gonna throw out comparisons to prior Electric Six work, one should also compare it to their last record – and how you feel about it now. Did you know how much you’d like Flashy‘s "Formula 409" & "We Were Witchy Witchy White Women" when you heard the record, or was it not until you heard them live? There are definitely songs on Kill that will become live staples, and that’s what you’re really looking for from a new Electric Six record.
MP3 Stream: "Escape From Ohio"
