Electric Six - Fire

Dance music is hard. As a guy who tries to make dance music, I understand the difficulty in motivating people to get out of their seats and shaking their butts. Most artists lack the fire needed to get people going. Electric Six, is not most bands.

In its very aptly titled first album, 2003's Fire, Electric six explodes onto the dance floor with all of the bravado of an 80's hair-metal band, the style of a 70's roller rink, and the fun of a bounce-house on ecstasy.

Throughout the album, lead singer, Dick Valentine, takes the role of master and commander, barking out orders like it's a warzone. Every word he says is a challenge issued out to the audience, daring them not to follow along. In the song Improper Dancing, DV yells "stop!", and everyone, including the band itself, comes to a crashing halt, waiting in anticipation for his next order. And when he finally shouts, "continue!" (Two seconds later), the audience is allowed to start partying again. Later, during the song Nuclear War (On the Dance Floor), DV yells "solo", and the guitarist cranks out another mind-bending riff, while the listeners dust off their air guitars and try to play along.

Musically speaking, these guys do it all. They have some disco, some punk, some electro, some metal, some garage rock, some new wave, and a lot of talent. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many bands they've taken cues from, but one of the best moments of influence comes from the interlude in the middle of I'm the Bomb, where DV winks toward Van Helen, stealing the lines "Maybe we'll reach down between my legs / And ease the seat back". Normally, if a band did that, it would be considered high treason, but when Electric Six does it, it's just another great moment in an outstanding body of work.

Music like this is just plain fun. With absurd lyrics, like the ones found in Danger! High Voltage, "Fire in the disco / Fire in the gates of hell / Fire in the disco / Fire in the Taco Bell" you know right off the bat that these guys are there to entertain. They aren't there to unlock the deep mysteries of the universe, they aren't there to teach you more about yourself; they just want to make you smile. Hell, they have a song called Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother). If that doesn't tell you what this band is about, I don't know what will.

Bottom line: Nobody else in music can throw around as much swagger as this band does, and the fact that they aren’t taking themselves seriously shows how natural this music is to them. These guys have something to offer everyone, whether that's the huge variety of genres they play, the comedic value of their lyrics, or how insanely catchy their tunes really are, so it's very hard to deny them the credit they deserve.

Tracks to look out for: Dance Commander / Naked Pictures (Of Your Mother) / Danger! High Voltage / Improper Dancing / Gay Bar / Nuclear War (On the Dance Floor) / I'm the Bomb