Singles: Electric Six, Dance Commander

Electric Six:Dance CommanderOut now You have to love Electric Six, only if for being Americans who actually understand irony. They can’t sing and can’t dance, but, unlike Christina Aguilera, they know it. They trade exclusively on chutzpah, surreal videos and priceless lyrics – “I’ve got something to put in you, at the Gay Bar, Gay Bar, Gay Bar” – pure genius. And so I expected great things of ‘Dance Commander’. I was mistaken. The vocals sound like those on Electric Six’s previous two singles – much earnest shouting by Dick Valentine who actually inserts the microphone into his mouth and, indeed, half-way down his windpipe. However, there’s no backing track to support this – the punchy electric guitar is in short supply. The song is about some kind of communist dance revolution, but I only know this from the press release, since the words are obliterated by a painful synth riff and boring drumming. Most disappointingly, though are the sub-standard lyrics; “You must have been a Dance Commander” just doesn’t equal “Danger Danger” as a chorus or a chat-up line. I was desperate to like this single, but I just can’t do it. Send Electric Six back to the Gay Bar and go listen to The Darkness.ARCHIVE: 1st Week MT2003