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Electric Six Zodiac Review by Mike Korn File this Detroit band under "eclectic.” They play a funky and sarcastic brand of rock with a great deal of tongue-in-cheek energy. At times, they may remind you of a souped up Talking Heads mixed with the electro-weirdness of Devo. At other points, you can detect traces of J. Geils Band or Oingo Boingo. But on the whole, they carve out their own sound. Zodiac unfortunately is one of those albums that starts like an exploding Fourth of July rocket but can't sustain the ride. The first half of the record sizzles, the second half cools down a bit and the last two songs fizzle. Once these guys can sustain their energy for a whole record, they will be unstoppable. Right now, Zodiac is still very entertaining for the fan of unpredictable rock music. This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2010 Volume 5 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Track by Track Review

After Hours A slinky piano riff combines with crunchy guitar and Dick Valentine's punchy vocals to make this a super high energy kick start to the record. I think I can even hear the twang of a Jus Harp in there! The song is quite brief and maybe more effective because of that.

American Cheese The funk becomes more pronounced here as horns come into the mix. There's some hot guitar licks and growling low tuned synth to jazz up the track even more. An acoustic break mixed with appropriately cheesy falsetto vocals appears to twist the song around even more. “Can't see the forest for the trees / I make my living in American cheese / Gonna bring everybody to their knees / Have another slice of American cheese.”

Clusterf***! There's a synthesizer arpeggio that almost reminds me of The Who's "Eminence Front" that starts the song, but it soon turns into a bass heavy funk workout with really strange and profane lyrics. In the 80's, this song would have been all over FM radio but it's way too potent and punchy for sheep used to Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga. Listen carefully and you'll hear some banjo in there, too!

Countdown To The Countdown The energy level keeps high here with a super catchy bass-driven riff and great vocal hooks that make terrific use of silly rhymes. This is definitely the most hard rock oriented song so far, with a scorching guitar solo that will blow your hair back. So far, all four songs have “hit potential” written all over them.

Doom and Gloom and Doom and Gloom Dick Valentine's thick and theatrical vocals drip with irony as he relates an exaggerated tale of pessimism and doomsday talk. The lyrics are hilarious and clever and there's a wailing saxophone solo that reminds me a lot of Gerry Rafferty, if you can believe it. The song has a driving, mysterious feel and it ends with soulful female vocals and more great sax work. It’s another winner!

Jam It In The Hole This sounds like a mean disco song with hard rock elements. It's a high energy cut laced with synth and electronic touches. Using the term "disco" might scare some, but the song is better than that. The spacy synth solo is very cool. "I'm God's love, baby! I'm Courtney Love, baby! Who the hell are you?"

I Am A Song Here's where things start to slow down a bit. I prefer Electric Six when they've got their foot to the floor and are playing hard driving party rock. This is a more acoustic based track with a kind of melancholy feel to it and featuring a lot of keyboard work. It's a well-written song but the band is just more effective in the flat out mode. I didn't care for the "do-da-do-do" stuff, either.

It Ain't Punk Rock Based on a stomping riff, this revolves around the simple refrain "It ain't punk rock until the punk rockers say it's punk rock!" That will stick in your head for sure. Man, these guys love their heavy bass sound and I'm glad they do. The lyrics are a hoot, which is obviously an E6 specialty and there's an insane electronic noise solo, too. I'm not sure I understand the significance of constantly referring to "Number 88,” though or ending the song with a barrage of pure noise.

Love Song For Myself There is really weird electronic happy music with robot beats and tons of synth, which gives this a strong 80's feel. There's more "ironic" falsetto vocals in this tale of a raging egomaniac. This song is a million miles away from what I usually listen to, yet I found it curiously appealing.

The Rubberband Man This a cover of The Spinners' classic and since I was a big fan of that song as a kid, I've got a soft spot for this tune. It's actually a pretty faithful cover, perfectly adapted to the Electric Six style. Valentine's vocals are full of adrenaline and he lets out some funky screams.

Tables and Chairs This is a real poppy song with a very rubbery sounding guitar and a strong Beatles feel. In fact, too strong for me, as the piece sounds like a very obvious 60's knock-off. These guys really aren't capable of a tune that isn't catchy or really poor, but this didn't really strike my fancy. Also, after forty minutes of highly ironic and snarky lyrics, I've kind of reached my limit on that, too.

Talking Turkey This is sort of a funky Talking Heads type tune with more overly camp lyrics, female vocals, and over the top singing. It's well played but just doesn't match the catchiness or energy factor of the early songs and ends the album on a weak note.

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