With Dead Boys-meets-Kiss hooks galore and all the raunchy nihilism and sleazy tough-guy rock action that any snot-nosed punk could ever ask for, Electric Frankenstein was obviously this generation’s Misfits. But for some reason Electric Frankenstein kingpin Sal Canzonieri decided to take a misguided Starbucks/Wal-Mart saturation-marketing approach to rock ’n’ roll (he probably just read a trillion too many Gene Simmons interviews) and released a vast glut of second-rate product over the last few years. Some of it was even recorded with inferior vocalists, which was particularly foolish since Electric Frankenstein’s ace in the hole is the golden throat of shouter Steve Anderson Miller, a man who single-handedly keeps EF from sounding exactly like hundreds of faceless and generic shit-punk groups. Cherry Thirteen, Miller’s side project with guitarist Pete Ugly, is to my knowledge, the only truly essential EF-related release since EF’s debut. Any kid that wants to hear some real nasty, genuine-article, piss-off-your-parents punk ’n’ roll should run to the record store and plunk down their sister’s Gap paycheck for this immediately. Cherry Thirteen sounds like Rose Tattoo and Cheetah Chrome beating up every band that ever released a 7-inch on Junk Records. How much more, babies, can you ask?
E-mail Dimitri Monroe at [email protected].
