Electric Six
I Shall Exterminate Everything Around Me That Restricts Me From Being The Master
Metropolis Records
By Annie Lynn White
This is just an exhausting album, a 16-track party that makes me feel like dancing with a bottle of Jack in my fist ‘til it’s time to pass out with my cheek on some stranger’s carpet. It kicks off with “It’s Showtime!” wherein lead singer Dick Valentine asserts “don’t tell me how to do my job now, cause I’m totally doing my job now.” If what follows is any indication, that job calls for vocals that sound like a sneer, an ability to get a crowd going, and bona fide rockstar wails. Oh my God are there so very many rockstar wails.
The synthesizer certainly earns its keep here, making Tait Nucleus a busy man. Sometimes he’s buzzing alongside the guitar, other times he’s commandeering a dramatic piano clanging percussively and classin’ up the joint. This guy has a way with the keys—he’s not one of those dudes holding down one key at a time and messing around with a bunch of knobs. In fact, I’m pretty sure that in an earlier life he played piano in a saloon with a brothel upstairs.
While rather glammy, the lyrics are crude enough to keep Exterminte from feeling like a wuss in front of all the other rock CDs. And the most remarkable part about the lyrics isn’t even their vulgarity, but how well they fit into the music; they practically snap into place like Legos. Valentine himself has admitted that many of the songs are about nothing at all. While that may be true, the actual words he chooses to sing are deliberate and selected for the music alone, the same way you’d write a guitar riff or bassline. They are written for the song; these words were never a poem that needed music to make them come to life. They serve only the music.
I Shall Exterminate Everything boils down to exactly three truths:
1. If you want to make sure your next party doesn't suck, pick up this album
2. Synthesizers aren't just for Depeche Mode anymore
3. And who needs meaningful lyrics if they sound cool?
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