With the release of their fourth album I Shall Exterminate Everything That Restricts Me From Being The Master, the Electric Six have proven yet again that rockers can cut the rug too. The Electric Six have easily become Pearl Jam to the Killers being Creed; they've been doing it longer and better. The band blends danceable disco inspired beats with driving bass lines and punk and garage rock inspired riffs. To top it all off is front man Dick Valentine who, at times, sounds like a combination of Clutch's Neil Fallon and Joy Division's Ian Curtis and at others sounds right out of Studio 54 in 1977 and delivers a number of memorable performances on I Shall Exterminate.
The album opens with "Showtime," a song that is a fitting opener. It features a crescendo that repeats a few times throughout the song with Valentine shouting "it's showtime." "Down At McDonnelzz" follows with its catchy, sample worthy, piano line that repeats throughout the song. As if the song needed more to highlight it, the chorus features a strong hook with Valentine aggressively singing "now everybody down at McDonelzz they down with Ronald McDonell." On it's own the line is funny but it will absolutely become one that fans love to sing along with."Rip It" features quick vocals that would almost cause listeners to over look it's politically inspired lyrics making references to the French ("the French sent us a copper lady long since turning green") to our current oil crisis (burning 50 million megawatts of gasoline). The song is closed out with a clever yet at points laugh-worthy rhyming of otion words ("
drink the potion, use the lotion, drain the ocean
"
"Feed My f***in' Habit" and "White Train" are blatant references to the band's love of and, likely, experiences with the rock life style and the silver (errr, um, white) lining that can come with it. The former song features disco inspired vocals along with shredding guitars while the later is loaded with references to the dark side of drugs.
"When I Get To The Green Building" is the most mainstream friendly song on I Shall Exterminate but it won't alienate the Electric Six's current fans like many songs that are inserted onto an album simply to make it marketable do. Had the song been laced with happy, poppy lyrics fans would likely frown upon it but while the song itself is more somber then the rest of the album the lyrics stick to cynicism and criticism of society ("isn't it interesting to watch them play the game? When they're all such cheaters and have no shame").
I Shall Exterminate stays with the Electric Six's tradition of driving, danceable, rock songs so it's not as if the band is breaking any new ground but if you're tired of your girlfriend playing The Killers over and over in the car and want something with more substance or you simply want to dance while keeping your rock n' roll credibility the Electric Six will certainly be a happy medium.
