The Electric Six group successfully "blurs" genre concepts in music. When trying to determine what the band is playing, such exotic phrases as bubblegum punk, disco punk and comedy rock pop up. The group treats music with humor.
It is enough to listen to the lyrics of the band's songs and watch the video clips. Even the pseudonyms of musicians demonstrate their attitude to rock. At various times, the band played Dick Valentine (a vulgar pun in English), Nuclear Tate, The Colonel, Rock and Roll Indian, Lover Rob, M. and drummer Two-armed Bob.
History of the Electric Six Group
The Electric Six group became popular largely due to audacity and provocation in songs and videos. The group was first created in 1996 in Detroit under the name The Wildbunch. But this name had to be abandoned due to the fact that it was already taken by a trip-hop collective from Bristol.
In 2001 they released their first single Danger! High Voltage, which topped the UK charts. And NME magazine recognized it as the best single of the week. C Danger! The High Voltage band even performed on an evening TV show.
For a long time there were rumors about the participation of Jack White from The White Stripes in the track. The musicians denied them. The group reinforced the success of the song with an amazing video.
The Electric Six group actively uses video clips to "promote" their tracks. By 2019, they have shot 21 videos, but most of them are very cheap, almost amateur.
Gaining group popularitysing
Videos for songs from the album Fire - Danger became popular! High Voltage and Gay Bar. The second song became the biggest hit in the band's history. And the clip was named the best of the year by several US music magazines.
Not everyone liked its provocative content, and the clip was even censored on American television.
The first full length album, Fire, was released in 2003 and went gold in the UK. After that, three musicians immediately left the group: Rock and Roll Indian, Sergeant Jobot and Disco.
In 2005, the second album, Senor Smoke, was released, which recorded a half-updated line-up of the group. The musicians began recording the album at the Warner Brothers studio. She signed a contract with the group after the first successful record. But shortly before the release, the contract was terminated by the new musical director.
Therefore, Senor Smoke was released on the Philadelphia label Metropolis Records, which has worked with many alternative musicians (London After Midnight, Mindless Self Indulgence, Gary Newman, IAMX). From that moment on, the group delighted its small but devoted army of fans with new albums every year.
Discussion among rock fans was caused by one of the songs of the second album, namely the cover version for the song by The Queen Radio Gaga.
If the “fans” of the legendary British quartet still forgave the impudent Americans for the song, then the video in which Dick Valentine appeared in the image of Freddie Mercury outraged many. The thing is that the vocalist of the group stood on the grave of Mercury at the beginning of the video.
The third album Switzerland is known for the fact that the musicians wanted to shoot a video for every song from the album. But in the end they were limited to only eight.
Electric Six member left the group
After recording the album, bassist Jonh R. Dequindre left the band and was replaced by Smorgasbord!. The only one who participated in the recording of all the albums of the Electric Six group is vocalist Dick Valentine. In total, 16 musicians participated in the group.
In 2009, Dick Valentine recorded an album with the new Evil Cowards project. He also continued work on the new studio album Electric Six KILL.
From that moment on, the group began to release more diverse records. In addition to numbered albums, the group recorded two records with cover versions of famous songs Mimicry and You're Welcome!.
The recording of these albums was sponsored by the band's fans through Kickstarter. Electric Six also recorded two compilations (Sexy Trash and Memories) and three live albums: Absolute Pleasure, You're Welcome Live and Chill Out.
The first of the live recordings was also released on the Absolute Treasure video.
Full official discography of Electric Six:
— Fire (2003).
— Senor Smoke (2005).
- Switzerland (2006).
- I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me from Being the Master (2007) - Flashy (2008).
- KILL (2009).
— Zodiac (2010).
— Heartbeats and Brainwaves (2011).
— Mustang (2013).
— Human Zoo (2014).
— Bitch, Don't Let Me Die! (2015).
- Fresh Blood for Tired Vampyres (2016).
- How Dare You? (2017).
— Bride of the Devil (2018).
The band has been very active with their fans on social media. She also organized a fundraiser for new projects through Kickstarter.
In 2016, the group raised money for a full-length film in the pseudo-documentary genre (the events are fictitious, but all the characters act as if everything is real) Roulette Stars os Metro Detroit.
According to the plot of the film, Australian pop singer Walla-B organized a competition for the best Christmas song. The heroes of Dick Valentine and DaVe (the band's guitarist since 2012) became the finalists.
An excerpt from the film from Electric Six:
Naturally, the band recorded a full soundtrack for the film. Dick Valentine has released a solo acoustic album.
