7/11/06: Electric Six: Señor Smoke (2006)

Electric Six is touring, and there won’t be any lectures onstage. They’re too busy being one of the few overblown rock bands that don’t shrivel into parody. Electric Six isn’t goofing on the sound they love. Fortunately, they’re willing to goof on their audience.

There were moments on their fine debut where the band seemed to revel in selling kids all the excesses of their hippie and/or punk parents. None of that could prepare us for the amazing start of Señor Smoke, as "Rock and Roll Evacuation" laughs at its target audience:

We are disposable creations, they’re throwing us away
Ignoring everything that we do and everything that we say
Mr. President, make a little money, sending people you don’t know to Iraq
Mr. President, I don’t like you, you don’t know how to rock

Not everybody gets the joke. Consider this interview, in which a fan thinks the band is getting political. Lead singer (and sole Six constant) Dick Valentine explains that the song was inspired by an idiot kid who was convinced that Rage Against The Machine would stop the war in Iraq. Valentine had to explain that Rage Against the Machine no longer existed—and had gotten a new singer, ditched the politics, and become Audioslave.

Anyway, how great is that line about not liking the President? After that, no amount of Leftist content could keep Señor Smoke out of our record collection.

To their credit, though, Electric Six spend the rest of the album concentrating on the dance floor. The exception is the lovely psych-ballad “Jimmy Carter.” You can’t argue with the opening simile: “Like Jimmy Carter, like electric underwear/Like any idea that never had a chance of going anywhere.”

Ronald Reagan also makes an appearance, as he dreams of nuclear war. Nothing offensive there. Many of us wish our current President would dream more of nuclear war—and how to keep Iran from making it a reality.

None of this is to suggest that Electric Six are good Republicans. We wouldn’t want to hurt their career. Still, Valentine writes catchy glam-punk with a responsible attitude about political posturing. The band remains fearless and unpredictable. Also, they know how to rock.

Make it your own: Electric Six and Señor Smoke got screwed over by their major label when the record was first released overseas. Buy the American indie version that came out this year. The next album is out in September. Listen to “I Buy The Drugs,” in which Valentine says “Yeah!” to staying at home and being supported by your woman.

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion