Electric Children’s 2022 single ‘Triste Journee’ was an interesting recording. It featured prominent garage rock guitars, punchy keyboards that drew as much influence from novelty horror rock as much as 60s fare from the likes of Question Mark and The Mysterians, and topped that with a muli-lingual lyric that further escalated their slightly trashy vibe. It was certainly nothing like you’d expect from an act being promoted with the stoner rock/desert rock label. Their 2024 single ‘Scene of The Crime’ gave more of a stoner link due to a guesting Nick Oliveri, and although the recording was driven by fuzzy riffs with the tone of Queens of The Stone Age in a particularly punchy mood, the end result, again, owed a little more to garage rock. Shouting gang vocals and a massive drum sound invited stronger comparisons with a ‘Tomorrow Hit Today’ era Mudhoney, but labels aside, it was a huge step forward and an indicator of potentially great things ahead from this band.
Musically, this double single extends the Electric Children sound a little further. The bass and tone of the brilliant ‘Deceivers’ has an air of stoner rock, with everything capturing a pleasingly fuzzy sound. Instead of taking the Desert Sessions/Queens route of so many, however, everything has been applied to a huge sounding glam rock swagger. The main riff comes across sounding like a darker cousin to something from the Chapman/Chinn universe, and guitarist Phil Cobb gives it a huge send off, which catches the ear with immediate effect. Coupled with echoing vocals, the melody sounds even gruffer, but there’s a pleasing sugar-sweet counterpoint here too, since The Von Bondies’ Marie Bolen fills a lot of space with a clean, wordless harmony that echoes the driving melody. There’s still a garage rock vibe cutting through the centre, but this comes with more of a crossover potential. In short, Electric Childen have never sounded more assured; this could be an instant classic.
The digital flip side, ‘Blood Red River’ applies a wall of fuzzy guitars to a punky riff, returning to a Mudhoney-esque sound once again, but thanks to a bigger production sound does a smarter job than ‘Scene of The Crime’. On the verses, the decision to use rhythmic stops between some of the bigger sounds lends a brilliant punchiness, as well as allowing the vocal to take more of a centre stage. Cobb’s guitar sound is much bigger than before, but he’s matched beat for beat by ex-Cramps drummer Bill Bateman who attacks the rhythm with an absolute fury, adding a hard edged and repetitive snare sound that accentuates a welcome energy. This isn’t purely a simple knockabout, however; an instrumental interlude stokes up some busy toms, giving Bateman an even bigger platform, whilst dual guitars explore something that draws a little more from an Eastern melody to create an interesting diversion from Electric Children’s noisier elements.
Encapsulating everything that’s made Electric Children great so far, but showing a greater potential all round, this is a really exciting release. With a huge debt to garage rock, a nod to fuzzy stoner sounds and a pinch of punk, these tunes are the band’s greatest to date, even without an obvious name like Nick Oliveri on board. They capture a really tight band in a furious set up, and the production values are streets ahead of ‘Trist Journee’ just two years earlier. If you’ve not yet explored this band’s back catalogue of tracks, this is the perfect place to dive in for a first listen.
September 2024