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Electrelane.
 "It
definitely is a grower. It feels a bit crap to tell people that.
It's like when people say 'listen to it loud with the lights
turned down.' And it's like, no! That's so cheesy. I would never
say that... but all I would say is it takes a bit of time to
get into it."
Electrelane's drop-dead gorgeous drummer Emma Gaze is talking about her band's new long player, 'The Power Out,' and I couldn't have put it better myself. Preceding the album was the On Parade single, a bopping stomp of hooky guitar, propulsive drums and the sexily indiscernible vocal of Verity Susman.
It took about ten listens for me to "get" the song. But when I did, boy was it good. In fact, it is perhaps one of the best songs I have heard this year. 'The Power Out' follows a similar path. At the end of the day, it is as beautifully wrought, as it is consistently melodic.
While their debut 'Rock It To The Moon' was an instrumental affair, 'The Power Out' finds Susman singing in English, French, German and Spanish. Her lazy drawl has certainly divided audiences. While her voice closely resembles that of Stereolab's Laetitia Sadier, one reviewer likened Susman's mew to that of a cat up a tree. "I love the way she sings. I really do. And we've had a little bit of flack for it," Gaze nods. "You can't argue with it. It appeals to some people a lot and to other people they hate it. But I think that's a good thing."
The all-girl group reportedly rip it up live, choosing to bypass
slow songs for solid punk rock. "Our friend, he is in a band
called Cat On Form, when he is not playing in his band he does
our sound. And he is I guess partly responsible for making it
a lot more... loud, and it's a lot more upbeat than you might
expect, I think. We don't play any slow songs." While Gaze makes
a point of telling me there are no lighter-in-the-air songs,
it irks me that she reckons they don't have any make-out songs.
I beg to differ: Oh Sombra! and Enter Laughing
are melt-in-your-mouth grimy rockers that are both reminiscent
of every high school formal you went to, and all the ones you
saw on television.
Speaking of Television: "There have been some Tom Verlaine comparisons but we would never ever knowingly rip someone off." A common misconception toward the band is that engineer (and God of Rock) Steve Albini coerced Susman and the girls into singing on their record. "A lot of people are implying that it was Albini's idea, which is totally ridiculous. The whole thing was written way before we went there. We don't wanna take away anything that he has done but he didn't have anything to do with the content of the songs."
Electrelane live in Brighton, the place where all the mods and rockers would go for booze, drugs, love and punch-ups. Getting caught up talking about The Who's 'Quardrophenia,' Gaze shatters my dreams of girls with short hair, rock'n'roll attitude and oh-so-cute British accents (which she possesses). "When I was 18 there were a lot more, but I was never really one of them. It's kind of disappeared. Most of the kids are into nu-metal and stuff. We're kind of losing. I mean there are a few definite die-hard 60s people down here and you do see a few scooters. Unless it's like a bank holiday, there aren't hordes of mods down here. I wish there were."
One would think Electrelane would be the pride of Brighton, not only for their smarts and sounds, but also for having played alongside Sleater Kinney, Le Tigre, Primal Scream and ...Trail Of Dead, but as Gaze puts it, "No" she whispers. "There are so many bands here right now and we just avoid it (the spotlight). We might be, but I wouldn't know about it." But the band do have their share of young impressionable girls, the very ones that worship Kathleen Hanna, Kim Gordon and Patti Smith (wait a second, Electrelane do that too - and for good reason). "They're really cute. They're like 'I hate school. I hate living at home. I'm gonna play guitar!'" her intonation mimicking ever so affectionately. "Go on then! Do it!" she says, with gusto. More Electrelanes? Yes please.
Lenin Simos
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'The Power Out' is out now through Remote Contol/Inertia.
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