Electric Six- Zodiac (2010)

If you know me, then you know my favorite band is Electric Six. After 2009's Kill , I was surprised to see an Electric Six album coming out already in 2010 but don't underestimate the power of Electric Six frontman Dick Valentine (aka Tyler Spencer). Zodiac is somewhat of a concept album but the concept is kinda blurry. There are twelves track with each one corresponding to one sign of the Zodiac. With that in mind, our album begins. Zodiac kicks off with After Hours, an ode to city night life and living after hours. It's a catchy track and a great starter to the album. American Cheese is a catchy ska influenced jam with an outro so outstanding I don't want to spoil it. Clusterfuck! is a dance jam, you could play this in the club and everyone would be grinding to it. Countdown to the Countdown is a catchy rock jam and is literally a song about a countdown...to a countdown. Sometimes I love the genius that is Dick Valentine, this is one of his strong points.

Doom and Gloom and Doom and Gloom is a hypnotic almost tribal rock song with a haunting chorus and an amazing saxophone solo that would make Bill Clinton jealous. One of the more catchy songs on the album is next with the dance groove jam that is Jam It In The Hole. This may be and quote me on this, the catchiest song ever written about sex toys. It is quite obvious what Valentine is implying with such line as "Low Battery but your lights are on" and "Flesh Fantasy, and our love goes on and on, we are good times in any form you choose". I rest my case and yet I will sing along to this like it's the catchiest thing on earth. Electric Six goes a different direction with I Am A Song! one of the best tracks on the album, I Am A Song sees Valentine comparing himself to a song and use some of the most vibrant and hilarious lyrics I've ever heard. Following this up is It Ain't Punk Rock, one of the catchiest songs on the album. The song is basically a mixture of references to astrology as well as an ode to Punk Rock itself. My favorite track would be track 9. This track is called A Love Song For Myself, and it may be my favorite Electric Six song of all time. It has almost a trance/pop feel to it but it's overall execution is flawless. Dick Valentine basically writes a love song to himself referring to himself with such brilliant lines "I'll always be here for me" and "sing this song of me". It's just a really fun, catchy, sing along song and it's the gem of the album. We see another cover from Electric Six with The Rubberband Man.

Originally done by the Detroit Spinners (a motown group) it has to be one of the best cover jobs I've ever seen. They give the song a new spin but it stays true to the original. Dick decides to go country alt rock on the track Tables and Chairs, one of the best song ever written about Marriage. "I see the meaning of life, girl and a house becomes a home" Not to mention the hilarious outro where he rambles about an invisible dog with a invisible fence and having a television the size of Oklahoma. The final track is one of the sexiest, Talking Turkey sounds like a B side from Kill. It has a smooth 80's sound to it, it's groovy and just freaking takes the cake to end the album. The female background vocals in the chorus complete the song and end the album nicely. Overall, if you like Electric Six, Zodiac is a solid album with a lot of genres to enjoy as well as lyrics that are catchy and witty in their own. Yes, Electric Six may just be Michigan's best kept secret.