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CD Review: Electric Six, “I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being the Master”

By Kegan Zema

Posted on Monday, October 15th, 2007, 12:00 am

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Electric Six, “I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being the Master,” 2007

Grade: A

The latest release from the disco-rock band Electric Six, “I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being the Master,” is a well-crafted testament to just how fun rock and roll can be.

Electric Six are a breath of fresh air in today’s modern music scene, where too many artists clamor to be taken the most seriously. These guys throw caution to the wind and create great songs with satirical and often absurd lyrics. Their first few albums were chock-full of over-sexualized jams like “Improper Dancing” and “Vibrator,” as well as ridiculous dance anthems such as “Dance Commander” and “Dance Epidemic.”

Their new album retains all the ridiculous energy of songs like these and even features a few songs that satirically address a myriad of social and political issues. Few bands match Electric Six in style or charisma, for better or worse, but this album certainly displays them at their finest.

The album starts by commanding the attention of the listener with the opening proclamation, “Showtime.” After that the Latin-infused track “Down at McDonnelzz” weaves the intricate story of a group with an affinity for drinking at a certain fast food restaurant. This hilarious track features the lead singer Dick Valentine’s exquisite falsetto as well as some shredding guitar work.

The next key track is “Rip It.” It starts with a great riff, very similar to “My Sharona” by The Knack, and continues on jubilantly. The best part comes at the end when there is a repeated chant, “Put me in motion / Drink the potion / Use the lotion / Drain the ocean / Cause commotion / Fake devotion / Entertain a notion / Be Nova Scotian.”

“Broken Machine” is a bit more introspective for the lead singer than usual. He seems to almost question his own sanity and even asks himself, “Why do I write these ridiculous songs?”

“Randy’s Hot Tonight” tells the tale of a mysterious man named Randy and his quest to live life to its fullest. Randy also seems to have some great insights: “Randy says, If you live in Japan, you’re Japanese / If you live in Canada, you’re gonna freeze / If you live in a plastic house, you’ll never die in a fire / If you work in Television, you’re a f–in’ liar.”

“Kukuxumusu” is a rousing love story about a girl of the same name and “Lucifer Airlines” is a trippy, laid-back song – complete with robot vocals – about an airline that most people wouldn’t ride on.

“Lenny Kravitz” is perhaps the best song on the album. This is a classic Electric Six song with lyrics that are mildly sexually explicit, but quite hilarious. The song features a harsh criticism of the rocker Kravitz as well as quite possibly the best Electric Six lyric of all, “Girl, What do you say / You can dress me up like JFK / Hide in the grassy knoll . and blow me away!”

Lastly, the end of the album features the songs, “Fabulous People” and “Dirty Looks,” both of which include social and political satires. “Fabulous People” deals with materialism, celebrities and the media, while “Dirty Looks” is a rare slow-tempo ode to human-interaction.

The bottom line is that this album represents Electric Six’s uncanny ability to make records that make people happy. It’s practically impossible to not be put in a good mood by these songs. With lyrics that are as equally astute as they are ridiculous, dance beats that won’t quit and antics such as Valentine’s shout of “solo!” before each jam session, this album is a must-have.