In Music We Trust
http://www.inmusicwetrust.com
How much rock can one take? The Supersuckers and Electric Frankenstein put you to the test, teaming up for Music Cartel's first split CD entitled Splitsville Volume 1.
The Supersuckers, as always, give you loud, guitar-soaked, rhythm-heavy rock and roll, wild and fun, perfect to blast if you want to have a sure-fire good time. Their five songs, including "Then I'm Gone", "Shit Fire", "Devils Food", and "Kid's Got It Comin'" ensure your rock cravings are fulfilled. Of course, what would a Supersuckers rock show be without one country song? "Teenage Shutdown" gives the people what they want, cooling off the heat of the rock for a bit so you can enjoy some country.
Then it is on to the rock once again. Electric Frankenstein turns it up a notch, burning you with red-hot guitars and a rhythm section that rolls right over you. "Sweet Baby Ignorance," "Rip It Apart," "Good For Nothing", and "Not This Time" are what you'd expect, pure, steamy rock 'n' roll. And, instead of a country song, Electric Frankenstein ends with "She's My Bitch", a Supersuckers cover. How fitting.
If you want rock 'n' roll and can't decide which band to put into the CD player, don't stress out, just put in Splitsville Volume 1 and hear two of the finest rock bands out there today. I'll give this an A.
Synthesis
http://www.synthesis.net
As far as rock 'n' rollers who have the credibility to back up their claims to a drinkin,' smokin' rock 'n' roll lifestyle, few can hold a candle to either the Supersuckers or Electric Frankenstein. Each band represents with five songs on the first of the Splitsville series, the Supersuckers kicking things off with the familiar-themed "Then I'm Gone" ("Yeah I still smoke / and I drink too much / yeah and I'm still broke / baby, let's go dutch") and running through three other new tracks before offering an acoustic cover of Electric Frankenstein's "Teenage Shutdown." Electric Frankenstein responds with five of their own numbers, led by the anthemic rocker "Sweet Baby Ignorance" and closing their half with a rousing rendition of Supersuckers' "She's My Bitch." High-brow? Not really. Punk fucking rock? Abso-fucking-lutely.
Monsters World of Metal
http://www.monstersworldofmetal.com/
The first installment of the new "Splitsville"
series features two veterans of the underground
scene-Supersuckers, a name synonymous with smokestack
lightning and racing fumes and Electric Frankenstein, lead-footed
Indie-Punk overachievers for more than a decade who gain
in strength with every new release. Taking
their cue from the typically proto-Punk maneuvering
of spotlight sharing, TMC's venturing into the pit,
extending their reach further out of the Fuzz-Rock fracas,
so expect more sounds from the sleepy sidewalks and
park bench Punk of Splitsville to follow. Each
band gets five tracks to flash their fire, with
Supersuckers up front raging through the likes of "Then I'm
Gone," and "Devils Food," their knack for left of
center lunacy and Pop licks on full display; Electric
Frankenstein, turns the power up a notch as they roar
through anthemic highlights as "Rip It Apart," "Good
For Nothing," and "Not This Time." Pedal to the
floor Rock to blow your airbags by and extra bonus
covers of each other at the end-highlighted by EF's
blazing version of "She's My Bitch" that'll make your hair stand up and
your girl walk out!
Bully magazine
http://www.bullymag.com/
The pairing of The Supersuckers and Electric Frankenstein is dead on
considering both bands have that punk n' roll sound that just tears
your head off.
Combining hokey Satanic lyrics, straight up power chords and driving
songs, the Supersuckers have been renowned as one of the better live
bands to catch. Their sense of humor comes across nicely on "Shit Fire"
and "Devils Food," never allowing the band to take themselves too
seriously. The Supersuckers have always been grossly ignored by the
mainstream mostly due to the fact that they didn't play the same style
as the media-darling grunge bands and that they weren't actually from
Seattle. They completely turn Electric Frankenstein's "Teenage
Shutdown" on it's head, playing it more like a country, blues anthem
than the hi-speed rawk tune. Kind of funny to listen to.
Electric Frankenstein's sound continues to evolve into a punk/AC/DC
hybrid that still sounds as killer as it did a decade ago. "Sweet Baby
Arrogance" could've easily been on Let There Be Rock with its raw
attitude and delivery. "Rip It Apart" lives up to it's title, with its
explosiveness and hi-speed energy. It's gotten to the point where EF
really has their sound dialed - everything is starting to sound more
instinctive which compliments their guttural style. Nothing - the
emotion, the delivery, the dynamics - sounds forced. You can here that
on "Not This Time." EF then toughens up The Supersuckers "She's My
Bitch" giving it more aggression and a thicker sound.
A great little ditty from two killer bands. Check it out friends.
Call it 'Clash of the White Trash Titans'. Generally speaking, splits are better left to those cement mixer grindcore bands, who all sound like the same bad motorcycle accident anyway. Rock & Roll bands sharing the same space is like dropping two Japanese fighting fish into the same bowl, it might look cool, but it can only end in disaster. Their egos can't handle it, for one thing, and I bet the 'who goes first?' question gets resolved in fistfights every time and they're not so inclined to give up their best material for such a low key release either. Well, I'm happy to report that the Music Cartel has managed to blow the curve completely with Splitsville, as both bands blaze through ten killer tracks of prime sleaze rock. The Supersuckers need no explanation to readers of these pages, since I saw every one of you motherfuckers, cowboy hats and all, at their last show. Suffice to say that their boastful claim of 'Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the World' ain't all that far from the mark. Electric Frankenstein sound like a heavy metal Dead Boys, and are probably the most prolific Rock & Roll band alive or undead. These cock rock monsters write songs like I do record reviews: fast, furious, and with little or no regard for re-writes or fine-tuning. Ever since Sonic Youth mangled Mudhoney's "Touch Me, I'm Sick" on a Sub Pop split a hundred years ago, it's been almost mandatory for bands to swap songs on the tail end of their respective sides, and Splitsville is true to form as the Suckers rip through the early Frankenstein speedballer "Teenage Shutdown" and the Electric ones shoot back a rip-snorting take on SS live fave "She's My Bitch". Kinda pointless, seeing as, minus a little shitckicker raunch on the Supersuckers side, both bands are as close cousins as AC/DC and Rhinobucket, but kicks is kicks, as the cowboys say. EF have probably released another record already, but since new Supersuckers material is as rare as a quiet day on the West bank lately, this split is a sight for bloodshot eyes indeed.
KNAC Internet Radio
http://www.knac.com/
On Splitsville, the 'Suckers team up with Bowery brutes Electric Frankenstein for an all-out fist to fist, man to man, guitar to guitar bout to the death. Each band delivers four brand new unreleased originals and cover of the other band. EF blasts through the 'Suckers' "She's My Bitch" like they own it, while Eddie and the boys give the country workout to EF's "Teenage Shutdown." EF contributes the rippin' "Sweet Baby Ignorance," a prime example of why this band is among the best around for straight up hard rawk & roll. Vocalist Steve Miller just tears into this one with his Steven Tyler meets Stiv Bators throaty wail. "Good For Nothing" is a mid-tempo hard rocker that finds Miller preachin' like Neidermeyer in the "We're Not Gonna Take I" video before going into some KISS style hip shakin' grooves. Meanwhile, "Not This Time" and "Rip it Apart" display the band's hardcore punk stripes, which they wear proudly on their torn and tattered sleeves.
So if you're a fan of either of these acts you should certainly score Splitsville as both bands are in top form and it's a truly ass kickin' little package.
Storm Bringer
http://www.stormbringerwebzine.co.uk
The first installment of the new "Splitsville"
series features two veterans of the underground scene-Supersuckers, a
name synonymous with smokestack lightning and racing fumes and Electric
Frankenstein, lead-footed Indie-Punk overachievers for more than a
decade who gain in strength with every new release.
Taking their cue from the typically proto-Punk maneuvering of spotlight
sharing, TMC's venturing into the pit, extending their reach further
out of the Fuzz-Rock fracas, so expect more sounds from the sleepy
sidewalks and park bench Punk of Splitsville to follow.
Each band gets five tracks to flash their fire, with Supersuckers up
front raging through the likes of "Then I'm Gone," and "Devils Food,"
their knack for left of center lunacy and Pop licks on full display;
Electric Frankenstein, turns the power up a notch as they roar through
anthemic highlights as "Rip It Apart," "Good For Nothing," and "Not
This Time."
Pedal to the floor Rock to blow your airbags by and extra bonus covers
of each other at the end-highlighted by EF's blazing version of "She's
My Bitch" that'll make your hair stand up and your girl walk out!
Ink Nineteen
http://www.ink19.com
Electric Frankenstein has to be one of the most
productive bands I've heard. For a while, it seemed like they were
unleashing a new release every couple of weeks...
Of course, it's not hard to pull a million moronic punk rawk songs out
of your butt, but EF's songs are genuine and heartfelt, the result of
an overactive musical imagination (or lack thereof, some may argue)
rather than some sicko compulsion to keep churning out "product."
And in the other side of the ring we have The Supersuckers, Arizona
transplants that managed to stud a punk bull to a country cow and have
been selling the milk ever since. They're not nearly as prodigious as
Electric Frankenstein, but their anthems of stupid desperation are just
as fun.
Which is why this split is a good good time. Ten songs (each band gets
five) about all sorts of dumb stuff -- romance, bar fights, uh,
drinking? These are the kinds of song a raging adolescent writes when
they're confined to their room, breakup songs, getting back together
songs, they-laughed-at-me-at-the-Academy-I'll-show-them songs. You'll
cry in your beer then smash the glass on the floor!
Vanguard Party
http://www.vanguardparty.org
Exactly what we've come to expect from two
of the
heartiest rock & roll bands around. Songs that praise
the booze,
drugs, the evil powers of rock and roll, and even the icky feeling
women put into some people's guts. Though the bigger and this
time
better songs on this split come from the Tucson by way of Seattle band,
the Supersuckers.
This Split feature 10 great songs that will have your head bobbing or
your ears bleeding. Fuck those who choose to assert the latter because
this is good music from a musician's standpoint. All of the
songs
feature at least one competent guitarist with an ample dose of Satan in
them. The Electric Frankenstein tracks are straightforward rock, though
they tend to be longer and more drawn out than the Supersuckers who
tend to be almost pure Amphetamine.
I would recommend getting or hunting this thing down, before it gets
the idea to get or hunt you down. That wouldnâ't be pretty.
Rockzine
http://www.rockezine.com
Kick-ass punky 70's based rock 'n
roll has gotten
more and more popular since the'grunge'. Loads of
bands are still
flooding the market because it seems so easy to perform distorted few
bar-chord songs. A few of the 'RAWK music' bands, which
have been
around for a while, and stand for quality, are 'The
Supersuckers' and 'Electric Frankenstein'. With 'Splitsville Vol
1' the record company
put together these two bands on one album. Five songs from both bands,
with an extra gadget: both bands play a cover of each other.
Especially the original 'Supersuckers' song "She's My Bitch" covered by
'Electric Frankenstein' is very convincing. Like the
records comparable
bands 'Hellacopters' and 'Gluecifer'
already did years ago (and
probably others before them), this is a good opportunity for new people
to get to know two high quality bands on one album. It's all
about
marketing, but if TMC keeps up this quality, they may continue with
"Splitsville", of which Volume 1 is the first one in an
ongoing series.
Candy For Bad Children
http://www.candyforbadchildren.com
No surprises here; I'd imagine both these bands
are familiar names to you readers so I won't go into any band histories
or anything. The four Supersuckers originals are good; not their best
songs, but definitely not throw away tracks and they do rock. Can't say
the same for their cover of Frankenstein's "Teenage Shutdown."
Personally, I think it's a major cop out. They are certainly capable of
rocking, I've seen it with my own eyes, and they probably could have
pulled out a good cover if they'd bothered but they took the kitsch
highway instead and did it "country." Yawn. Every time I play the disc,
I skip it-I think that pretty much says it all. The Electric
Frankenstein originals are really good; I'm a mark for them though,
I've liked pretty much everything I've heard by them. And of course
they didn't pussy out when it came time to record their (assigned or
chosen, I'm not sure) cover of the Supersuckers classic "She's My
Bitch" because they don't fuck around like that. EF has two modes too:
only with them it's fast and faster-not rock and country. Still, a disc
with only one weak track is a good disc nonetheless so we'll be keeping
this. But we will have to file it under Electric Frankenstein.
High Bias
http://www.highbias.com/
Heavy rock label The Music Cartel has inaugurated
its new Splitsville series with this disk, featuring Seattle's
Supersuckers and New Jersey's Electric Frankenstein. Both bands play a
lean and mean version of rock that drinks deeply from bottles of punk,
metal and high-octane rock & roll, so this is a good match. Each
does four new originals, plus a tune by the other. The 'suckers blaze
through good-natured burners like "Then I'm Gone," "Devils Food" and
"Shit Fire" (because a Supersuckers release just isn't complete without
at least once profane song title), then move to their C&W side for
a dusty version of EF's punk rock anthem "Teenage Shutdown." The Joisey
quintet tends to snarl more than smile, ripping through adrenaline
rushes like "Sweet Baby Arrogance," "Not This Time" and the
appropriately titled "Rip It Apart" with the savagery of a starving
carnivore. Singer Steve Miller in particular sounds two steps away from
lycanthropy.
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