Metropolis Records
2005
Senor Smoke
About This Album
Arriving in the U.S. a year after its U.K. release, Electric Six's second album, Señor Smoke, shows that it'll take more than having been without a record deal in their own country to derail them. After all, they've survived a name change and taken more than a few lineup shifts in stride. Through it all, they've displayed a very Detroit kind of scrappiness and sense of humor that is stronger than ever in their music (though it's hard to expect anything less from a band that names one of its B-sides "I Am Detroit"). The foundations of their sound still come from disco, synth pop, glam, and arena rock -- genres that had their last heydays several decades ago, which is oddly fitting for a band from a city often portrayed as having its best days in the past. Police sirens blare over Señor Smoke's first two tracks, and the electro-tinged "Devil Nights" pays homage to one of Detroit's most notorious "holidays" and the city's pioneering electronic music in one fell swoop. Dick Valentine is as charismatic and campy as ever, singing "live" as "lee-uhv" and "city" as "cit-ay," and selling lyrics like "be my dark angel/be my Capri Sun" and "I'm a man, not a disco ball!" Yet Señor Smoke doesn't just sound like Fire warmed-over.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,7 and 11)

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