>> Electrocute
bio: Delicious Berlin brats Electrocute will release their debut album ?Troublesome Bubblegum? on November 1st on Emperor Norton Records. ?Troublesome Bubblegum? finds our dynamic duo delivering a freakishly good set of sonic candy, a twisted assortment of swaggering garage-punk guitars, fussy raunchy vocals combined with high energy dance beats.
This is girls on the run, stripped down rock?n?roll made on whatever machines or weird electronics the duo dug up in their cramped studio; the Gummi Zelle (or Rubber Room to those unfamiliar with Germanic dialect), all brought together with a barrage of edgy guitar riffs, sassy lyrics brimming with sarcastic wit, and further compacted with a catchy charm, that will delight the pop-hook slut in everyone.
Electrocute have forged an album that seamlessly flows between musical styles without ever sounding derivative. They dip their immaculately painted toes into a wide variety of genres such as, 60?s girl groups, garage rock, punk, rockabilly, German new wave, and even rap?Despite this experimentation, there is more originality to the Electrocute sound, proving they?re much more than musical magpies (although they do share a similar predilection for shiny things.)
Electrocute have never been an easy band to define. If you ask them how they would describe their music the answer you?ll most like receive is ?it?s just rock?n?roll, or whatever. But as the album title suggests they?re giving a sly wink to bubblegum music.
Well, Electrocute are not ?bubblegum?? per se; a Brill Building type manufactured pop group churned out to sell millions to prepubescent teenagers. They do however identify with some characteristics of the 60?s bubblegum genre; pop smarts, garage rock associations, lyrical excess and an understanding of the excitement generated by three chords and an attitude. And don?t be fooled because they?re cute girls either, they?re clever too. They wrote every song themselves and co-produced and engineered the album as well as played and programmed all the instruments (?adding in? a few friends/guest appearances), and then brought their tracks to L.A. for Mickey Petralia (Ladytron, Beck,) to give their cranky tunes a perfect mix for the car stereo and juice for the dance floor.
Here songs like ?Jet Set Boy? and ?Fun is a Floppy Bitch? make you feel like you?ve just tuned in your AM radio dial and are picking up songs of teenage heartache, albeit in 2004. ?You?re an inflatable doll but your head is stuck in the wall!? shouts Nicole over a sonic backdrop that sounds like Chuck Berry cross-dressed with Devo.
Electrocute are ambitious at their craft, and underneath the sticky sweetness, lies an always perfect, danceable beat. Bubblegum music is full of provocations and contradictions?Which brings us to the ?troublesome? part, the darker side of pink.
It was this dark side of their worlds that probably led them to choose their band name; Electrocute - a word, which sounds sweet, but of course, taken at its true meaning, to kill using electricity, is not so cute anymore. Their infamous live shows are hedonistic debacles proving that these two aren?t necessarily the nice girls you want to take home to meet mom (although daddies of the world would unite in welcoming them in). Electrocute have toured throughout Europe and the U.S. as well as playing support on Peaches North American tour throughout October last year. Somewhere along the line they rocked the Winter Music Conference, and SXSW will never be the same again.
On ?Troublesome Bubblegum? songs like ?Blow It?, which is dripping with sexual innuendo to the more blatant ?Venus Fly Trap? about their sadomasochistic fantasies, are executed with confident naughtiness. Whilst their true punk deviance is unmasked in more anarchistic-in cheek songs like ?Cops Copulating? and ?Car Bomb Derby?. That?s not all a few surprises also await the listener, such as a haunting ballad about death in ?Goodbye Johnny? and ?Shag Ball? with its inventive lyricism and almost sci-fi synthesizer breakdown.
Innovative and original ?Troublesome Bubblegum? is sure to challenge the repetitive world of garage rock as well as bring a fresh raw soul back to the mega-produced land of pop...
So for those about to rock here?s a brief history:
The original line up of Electrocute Nicole Morier and Mia Dime started with humble beginnings three years ago in the Katze 5 art gallery in Berlin. Nicole had been offered a show by her friend Fran?oise Cactus (Stereo Total) to perform at her art opening.
They did a cover by 60?s group Nino Tempo, April Stevens ?Teach Me Tiger? and a song by early 80?s rap group Sexual Harassment called ?I Need a Freak?, exposing their diverse and eclectic music tastes from the very start. The two had very little time, but worked diligently over 4 days with Mia shouting some rhymes over Nicole's instrumentals, songs that would eventually become ?I Love my Daddy? And ?Sugar Buzz? on their debut EP ?A Tribute to Your Taste? (released last year on Emperor Norton to widespread critical acclaim, shock and awe style). Dressed in prom dresses and wigs, their equipment consisting only of maracas, a Fender Mustang guitar, and a CD player, they magically had the entire gallery rockin? out by the end of their 30 minute set (?Sugar Buzz? was then a ten minute psychedelic excess.) The show had everyone reeling and the two knew that destiny had called upon them. Electrocute was born?
They carried on writing songs in their usual ?anything goes? style and put together a demo that was made strictly for the pope of trash himself, John Waters, who Mia was about to meet when accompanying their friend Peaches (who was doing a West Coast tour with him.) They never heard back from Mr. Waters but the demo sounded good and it persuaded them to do more. But like we said destiny had other plans?.
New Electrocute!!
Spankin new Electrocute member Holly Doll is creating sparks already performing for thousands as the new keyboardist/singer extraordinaire. From her Berlin debut at the infamous underground Rio club, to a bombastic show in London as support for Har Mar Superstar, she has taken the word cute to a whole new level.
Sporting curly blond locks, a tiara, or sometimes a Dirndl (you know the dresses the Bavarians wear for Octoberfest) she really could be a living doll. But she?s no toy, get the music crankin? and she?s a tower of powerful synth licks and strong vocals.
Holly, now based in Berlin, was raised in eastern Tennessee very near the home-town of Dolly Parton and the Carter family. Music was a part of her life from early on singing in the gospel choir, playing in the local bell choir, even making it all the way to perform in Carnegie Hall.
At 16, she began her love affair with Berlin when she came as an exchange student. Straight out of high school she moved back to Berlin for one year escaping rural America and learning fluent German. In the following years while studying in Washington D.C. she traveled between the punk, indie US capitol and Germany?s underground electronic capitol, finally deciding to make Berlin her permanent residence, leaving everything but her southern accent in her dust.
Nicole and Mia met Holly Doll on a truly crazy evening in the backstage at the Berlin Insane record release party. Holly became an instant fan that night, as did they of her, and when the two were searching to expand the band; Holly was their first choice.
Unfortunately, original member Mia Dime a.k.a. Mia von Matt has decided that she does not want to continue with the constant growing schedule of the band. Her parting is sad for all but amicable, and although Holly adds a different touch, you can expect a bigger badder Electrocute as they tour their new album around the world starting in November 2004.
Electrocute are? Nicole Morier: vocals, guitar, beats, synths and other sounds Holly Doll: vocals, bass station, samples
Electrocute are here to rock your world, pop your psych-cherry and make your girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband/mum/dad jealous.
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