It is as predictable as anything that someone asserts will someday happen. The rock and roll band wants to go home. The rock and roll band wants to go back to where it got its start.
To the days when it was insecure about everything and picked unnecessary fights with members of local bands because it thought they were saying something about it. To the days when its own members decided that it was quite possibly the most important band in Detroit…….and what a coincidence, they were in that very same band. To the days when it opened up the NME and thought it might be incredibly meaningful to meet Julian Casablancas.
It is predictable as anything that was ever going to happen at the behest of the predictor. The rock band would never go home. It had seen too much. It had grown older. It had played too many shows in a row, seen too many local openers, travelled to too many countries. The band can never go home. Not to the way it was.
Look at Kirk Hammett. You think Kirk Hammett circa 2009 has anything in common with the Kirk Hammett that played on Kill ‘Em All? Today’s Kirk Hammett brushes his teeth with caviar and does transcendental meditation on top of the Petronas Towers. His best bet is to cut his hair, put on some eyeliner and hope the teacher of his daughter’s suzuki method violin class (and James Hetfield for that matter) doesn’t notice.
Electric Six is a rock and roll band just like Kirk Hammett. They both just want to go home. But they can never go home.
Electric Six is done trying to not sound like their first record Fire. Electric Six wants to sound like their first record Fire. Electric Six wants big loud guitars and fuzz basses intertwined with the occasional r&b jam. However, Electric Six has been to Estonia. Electric Six has been to Chile. Electric Six belongs to a food co-op and Electric Six works out at the gym. Can it really go to that place?
The answer is our sixth album KILL. The answer is yes we can sound like the first album. But we are going to sprinkle it with what we’ve learned. We can go back to the skull-crushing guitars and disco grooves, but they will be cooked in an avant-garde reduction sauce.
With the album opener “Body Shot”, Electric Six says to the listener “We are still Electric Six. We can still effortlessly combine hip-hop and r&b sensibilities with loud guitars and real drums. We can alternate the falsetto and bellowing vocal styles. We are still Electric Six. And we can reach into you and eat your soul.”
But KILL doesn’t rest on any laurels. KILL seeks to boldly and bloodily go where it can go where no go before. Tracks like “One Sick Puppy” and “Waste of Time and Money” tell the listener that guitars will be used and stories will be told. Stories of betrayal and despair and the good times that can only come from betrayal and despair.
The anchor track of KILL is the triumphant “Steal Your Bones”. Electric Six reaches into Fleetwood Mac territory and tells the tale of a man who would clone his way into a young girls heart. Upon hearing the final mix of this song, guitarist Johnny Nashinal remarked, “The video for this track needs to take place on an aircraft carrier!” Were that we would, but alas President Obama has given all of our aircraft carriers to al-Qaeda just like Sean Hannity said he would.
KILL is a rock/dance/pop masterpiece culminating in the smooth nightlife groove of “White Eyes”. Electric Six loves to end its albums on an adult contemporary note. It’s as if Electric Six is saying, “Fuck you, rest of album!!! We are going to end the album with a song that doesn’t sound anything like the rest of you. That’s how we do things in Royal Oak!!!!”
To summarize, Electric Six is releasing it’s sixth record KILL. Electric Six wants to return to simpler times. Kirk Hammett won’t let us.
KILL is available on Oct. 20, 2009 on Metropolis Records. Come see Electric Six on our “I’m Cutting a Fuckin’ Spot, Tony” tour this fall in a town near you.
As we all know, destiny long ago penned a message in his book. A message in perfect italics. The pen was dipped in ink that was carefully poured from David Bowie's codpiece into the forbidden crevice between Elizabeth Taylor's tits, and put upon eternity's pages for all to be forced to know as what shall always be unadulterated truth. The message was this:
"The Electric Six concert at Neumo's in Seattle on the 15th of November 2009 will be..........the shit.
P.S. Electric Six will call forth a mighty ally to open for them. A band known as 'St. Peter and the Rocks' and their number will be 3607100652.....ask for BONE. "
Hey just thought Id drop in and say that Ive been a fan since the days of Fire. I heard about you through one of my best friends, we almost saw you in San Fransisco after the release of Flashy but we were removed from the event because another person we came with was booing Local H which was playing before you. still trying to see your show, schedule more California shows!
The Body Shot Video is AWESOME!!! DV should grow himself a mustache, it looks so...keen. And it wouldn't fall off during Video shoot, hehe! Is the cock DV's one?
this is just the best band fucking ever!! and oh my did we really need old lady boobs in the body shot video?? fuck yea we did! hahaha cant wait to see mr valentine and the six in baton rouge!!!! remember when you told me that you wana ride the rubber rocket?
If you’re checking out this site to determine if you want to see this band when they come to your town, listen up. To rely on an overused cliché – They (indeed) Rock. Just watching the campy subtle antics of Dick Valentine, who I have labeled “The Van Wilder of Rock”, is almost worth the price of admission. Forget the extremely funny videos, seeing them live, the band is tight and the songs just crank. This band is more popular in the UK than US, and that’s a shame. And, I was somewhat embarrassed my hometown didn’t fill up Jack Rabbits on a Tuesday night for this band. (For a town that brought us major label Shinedown, Red Jumpsuit, Cold, Limp Bizkit, Black Kids etc. and continues to crank out new successful bands, I always expect larger live audiences for some reason). Despite the smaller crowd, the guys were absolute pros and played a great set, which included a 4 song encore. Take your friends and go see this band when they come to your town.
