Electric Six, Flashy

Dick Valentine says that he wanted to write “a sappy Coldplay kind of song” when he started “Watching Evil Empires Fall Apart,” and while the song does have some sensitive piano chords in it, it’s way groovier than anything Chris Martin has ever done. The guitar work has a Cure-like flavor to it, but the synth and drums are pure E6. This is another tight song, with clearly defined verses and choruses, and the lyrics are surprisingly tender for a song about a conqueror: “I control the world/You controlled my heart.” This song grew on me, actually; I didn’t appreciate it at first, but now I’m a big fan.

Photo © Alicia Gbur

I was really curious about the subject matter of “Graphic Designer,” and then I found out that Valentine’s wife just happens to be that specific kind of designer. And that’s about as far as the lyrics want to go, while a catchy riff repeats in the background. The lyrics more or less stop after a minute and twenty seconds, at which point for the next two minutes all the instruments wank around and make squealy noises. For two minutes. And then there are more lyrics that end in rhymes for “designer,” followed by a final thirty seconds of random simultaneous soloing. With a running time of 4:20, that means “Graphic Designer” could have been a tidy and catchy 1:50 song, but apparently there was jazz happening.

Valentine originally wrote “Transatlantic Flight” in 2000, but hasn’t released it until now. It’s got a delicious percussion groove and sparse instrumentation in the verses that focus attention on Valentine’s voice. Said voice is telling a story of a man and woman meeting on a plane on its way to England, and is the first appearance of the pickup line, “In the event of a water landing/You can use my body/As a flotation device.” It’s a groovy song with a rocking chorus, but there’s a cold thread throughout that adds a hint of sadness to the proceedings. The vocoder voice at the end is awesomely chilling.

Wrapping up the album is a nice bookend called “Making Progress,” which is sung entirely through a vocoder (my personal favorite thing of all time). It’s a sarcastic song about how crappy the world is now, and that we should cling to each other while we can. The distinction between the verses and the bridge isn’t very clear; the guitar changes don’t provide a lot of indication that the sections are different, but who cares? Vocoder vocals over a catchy background!

Flashy is a CD that improves with repeated listenings, as I found out. It’s got songs that are a departure from the regular E6 style, which makes them interesting. It’s got some songs that are just plain good. And it’s got some songs that I’m expecting to skip the next time they come up on the iPod. As a whole, it’s a respectable product, worthy of inclusion in the Electric Six canon. I don’t consider it to be near as good as I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me from Being the Master, but it’s better than Switzerland. I am happy to have heard it, and I hope Valentine never stops being that flashy man.

Thanks to Ben Kharakh for reference material.

Additional Resources:

Electric Six is currently touring to support Flashy. The band plays four shows in Spain, December 4 – 7. Check out the band’s Official Site or MySpace page for more details.

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