Electric Six, 'Flashy'

The buzz: Hey, remember “Gay Bar” and “Danger! High Voltage”? Detroit/Brooklyn party rockers Electric Six hit it big in 2003 with those two singles (an endorsement and some guest star assistance from White Stripes frontman Jack White didn’t hurt, either). Since then, a few label shifts (and a lot of line-up changes) have taken the group out of the mainstream, but not altered its sound or dude-centric outlook. Is this a good thing?
 
The verdict: Five albums in, and the Six is still a mish-mash of arena rock, faux R&B, punk, metal and tacky synth-pop, rounded out by singer Dick Valentine’s he-man posturing. As a purposely shallow band, your enjoyment of the group entirely depends on whether you find lines like “He’s the Xbox to your Atari” or songs about kitchen cleaning (“Formula 409”) to be hilarious. The lyrics wear thin, but the band has a real swagger—almost enough to sell the joke.
 
Did you know? Fans of the band’s early work may be disappointed with album opener “Gay Bar Part Two,” a flamenco-tinged rocker that has pretty much nothing in common, lyrically or musically, with the band’s biggest hit...save for the mid-song throwaway line, “Gay bar part two!”

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