Human Zoo

Album review

When Electric Six made their explosive debut on 2003's ridiculously bombastic Fire, few would've pegged the band to become an enduring staple of the party rock landscape. Now on its 11th album, the Detroit rock outfit continues to grow its irreverent legacy with Human Zoo. The album finds the band emerging from the shroud of sleazy darkness that seemed to surround its more recent work to return to its sillier, more theatrical roots. While the return to its rocking ways certainly suits the band, it feels as though there's something missing. While Electric Six have always been a pretty unusual band, it at least felt like there was substance behind all the bluster and silliness. Human Zoo, however, feels like an impression of an Electric Six record that, while it looks and sounds like the band, doesn't quite hit the mark. The thing that has always made Electric Six's brand of weirdness work is that, at the end of the day, it felt like they really believed their own hype, so when Dick Valentine would make a ridiculous statement like "I invented the night" (from the song of the same name), you at least paused for a second to consider if maybe he did. Songs like "Gun Rights" and "(Who the Hell Just) Call My Phone?" lack the swagger and confidence of the band's earlier work, and without that sense of commitment, it feels like the band is just kind of joking around. Although Electric Six have always made music that was fun and funny, they always did it with a straight face. Human Zoo does have its fun moments, and the album's hard-struttin' opener, "Karate Lips," is certainly a diamond in the rough, but for the most part the album feels like a misstep in the band's otherwise excellent catalog.
© Gregory Heaney /TiVo