Can it really be 20 years ago that those Detroit rascals Electric Six regaled Top of the Pops with “Gay Bar”, and then “Danger! High Voltage”, from their debut album Fire? Well, apparently, a check of the calendar confirms that in 2023, it is indeed two decades since one of the best debut albums of all time was released.
Since then, Electric Six has established themselves as one of the hardest working bands on the planet. They tour relentlessly, and up until five years ago, released albums with military regularity. Now they are back with their 15th album, and although it’s been a testing wait since 2018’s Bride of the Devil, the wait is worth it, for on Turquoise, Electric six bring everything that they possess and roll it up into an album that touches on every genre around. It’s typical Electric Six, and for that, we should all be grateful.
I’ve seen this band many times over the past two decades, sometimes rather drunk and at others, stone cold sober. The latter I will admit is a rarity, but the band don’t do bad live shows, and similarly, their musical output follows a similar consistency.
It’s an album that’s stacked from front to back. Bookended by the pop beats of “Take Me to The Sugar” and the electro vibes of “The Wheel Finds A Way”, the joy of Electric Six is the complete and variable menu that the band offer on each release. Combined with Dick Valentine’s to the bone lyrics that reflect societal observations as well as ridiculous humour that is unique to the band, it’s an album that you can either flick on and off, or gorge on one sitting. The choice is yours, but the result is the same. This is a band with a funked-up groove, who switch from the heavy riffed “Child of Hunger”, the vibrant “Panic! Panic!”, the natural successor to “Who the Hell Just Called My Phone” that is “Hot Numbers on the Telephone”, and the seventies rock vibe of “Skyrocketing” with an ease that is frankly, outrageous.
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If you are familiar with Electric Six, then Turquoise should delight you. It’s got everything you expect, want, desire, from this unique band. The disco pulse, the rock and roll, the alternative element, and overall, it’s wrapped in the quality this band deliver. Who else can produce a song called “Staten Island Ass Squad” without so much as a blink. Yes indeed, Valentine, lead guitarist Johnny Na$hinal, keyboardist Tait Nucleus?, rhythm guitarist Herb S. Flavourings, drummer Dr. J and bassist Smorgasbord have delivered once more. Now, where are those tickets for that December tour?
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Turquoise is out on September 8th
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