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Electric Six - Fire

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Format: CD
Catalog: 40169
Rel. Date: 05/20/2003
UPC: 634904016920

Fire
Artist: Electric Six
Format: CD
New: In Stock and available for pick up Used: In Stock and available for pick up
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Reviews:

In an era when a band like AFI actually gets good reviews,despite having a singer with the most laughably overdramatic-and-meaning-it voicein history and words to match, you'd think rock really is dead. But if it is,Detroit's Electric Six (formerly known as the Wildbunch) sure knows how to dressup its corpse and take it out on the floor for a spin. For one thing, they'vegot a singer named Dick Valentine who sounds like Tom Jones crossed with the Muppets'Animal: overdramatic and slobbering, with a big, knowing wink. They also havea bassist called Disco and a guitarist dubbed the Rock and Roll Indian. And ifyou've already heard "Danger! High Voltage," a British hit last year that cameon strong in the States earlier this year thanks to an E6 EP of the same title,you know they have a sound that lives up to their band members' names.

Not tomention lyrics like "Fire in the disco/ Fire in the-Taco Bell!/ Fire in the disco/Fire in the-gates of hell!" Namely, Electric Six evokes the Hives with Some Girls-eraRolling Stones replacing Fun House-era Stooges as the crucial reference point.(On "Danger!" they're joined by a fellow who happens to sound exactly like JackWhite of the White Stripes, though the band denies it's him, cough cough yeahsure cough cough.) Thing is, their debut, Fire, is every bit as brilliant—anddemented—as that hit. Imagine if Bon Scott-era AC/DC knew exactly how ridiculousthey were and didn't care. Or Andrew W.K. with, whaddaya know, nuance.

No, I amnot making this up. Sure, Valentine would like to do more than anything else inthe world is rock us while bellowing lines like "I was born a dancer/ In yourdisco of fire-ooh yeah!" ("She's White"). But you may have noticed all those referencesto disco. They're not kidding; songs like "Improper Dancing" and "I Invented theNight" bring to mind what the great, dance-smart late ‘70s band the Blockheadsmight have sounded like if they'd been fronted by AC/DC's Bon Scott instead ofIan Dury. And their propensity for good-footing infects rockers like "NuclearWar (On the Dance Floor)" ("You're a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty,pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty girl") and "She's White" with moremovement than you might be used to hearing. Also more fun. But you figured thatout already.

Still, it's worth noting that "Gay Bar" improbably outdoes even "Danger!High Voltage" for pure thrills. "Let's start a war/ Let's start a nuclear war/At the gay bar!" Valentine sings. Is he serious? Are Electric Six a joke? Onlyone thing is for certain: they may not have invented the night (as they claimon the preposterous "I Invented the Night"), but they'll make yours a lot betterif you let them.
        
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