Detroit, MI · garage rock · disco rock

Electric Six

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Detroit's disco-rock absurdists, whose deadpan commitment to the bit has sustained twenty-odd albums — 'Danger! High Voltage' still combusting nightly.

Electric Six formed in Detroit in 1996, originally performing as the Wildbunch until pressure from the British collective the Wild Bunch forced a name change. The band came out of a scene built around the Old Miami and Gold Dollar clubs, the same rooms that produced the White Stripes. Dick Valentine, born Tyler Spencer, has fronted the group from the start, delivering deadpan vocals over a mix of garage rock, disco and new wave.

Songs are kept short and riff-driven, with lyrics that treat absurd premises as matters of complete seriousness. Every band member performs under an invented stage name, and the lineup around Valentine has changed repeatedly since the 1990s; he remains the group's sole constant and primary songwriter, on both music and words.

During a brief split at the end of the 1990s, Valentine formed a side project called the Dirty Shame and released a solo record, Smog Cutter Love Story, which included an early version of "Vengeance and Fashion," later reworked for Electric Six's debut. The band reformed in 2001 and recorded "Danger! High Voltage" that year.

"Danger! High Voltage" became a hit in 2003, reaching number two on the UK singles chart and fuelling years of speculation that its uncredited second vocalist was Jack White, a rumour the band alternately denied and dodged until Valentine confirmed it in a 2018 video. "Gay Bar," inspired by a night out in Detroit's gay club scene, followed it to number five, and the debut album Fire reached the UK top ten.

A third single, "Dance Commander," gave the band its third UK top 40 hit. Since then Electric Six has maintained an unusually steady release schedule and a heavy touring routine, building a catalogue that runs to twenty studio albums plus rarities and live releases.

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garage rockdisco rock