Tools
Electric Six
w/the D4, Broadcast Oblivion
Stranger Personals
Sat March 22, Crocodile, $10.
Before Electric Six stormed onto the scene, disco and metal had about as much use for each other as Dubya has for the tenets of Mahatma Gandhi. The two genres were never meant to copulate with the crushing impact Detroit quintet Electric Six orchestrate. But one listen to their UK hit "Danger! High Voltage" will convince you of the righteousness of such rude mating.
Electric Six sprang into wiseass life as the Wildbunch in 1996; however, an English DJ crew had claimed the tag in the mid-'80s, so a name change was forced upon the Detroit upstarts. In the last few years, Electric Six have accumulated a press pack thicker (and much funnier) than a Stephen King novel, full of the most ludicrous fabrications ever uttered by musicians. Their creative deceptions about their origins and identities have endeared them to Britain's sensationalistic music journalists as much as their bravura arena rock for David Letterman fans has wowed gig-goers.
Sure, E6 have benefited from the media's insatiable love for all rocky things outta Detroit, but these pranksters are more Andrew W. K. than White Stripes (despite Jack White guesting on vocals for "Danger! High Voltage"). The multiple layers of irony; the raucous send-ups of metal, disco, punk, and new wave; and the glittery disco ball aflame on their T-shirts all bespeak a group with more wit and charisma than a stadium full of earnest, Nuggets-worshiping garage rockers. There's a reason the très-chic London club Trash practically made "Danger!" its theme song in 2002. E6 singer Dick Valentine and White's vocals are campier than that line in Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" ("She can kill you with a wink of her eye!"); drummer M is a metronome with soul; bassist Disco earned his name honestly; guitarists Surge Joebot and Rock n' Roll Indian can stroke it like Kirk Hammett or that cat in KC & the Sunshine Band; and "synthist" Tait Nucleus has a really cool name.
Of course, there's more to E6 than "Danger!"; these Motor City absurdists slay live, and they're sure to preview loads of songs off their forthcoming album, Fire (due May 20 on XL Recordings). So sprinkle some glitter on your Black Sabbath shirt and practice your devil sign, dude.
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