Thursday, August 21, 2014

The People Electric - self released


Scuzzy southern blues rock like the fuzz from The People Electric really doesn't matter where it comes from. These guys happen to be from Portland, OR but this raw electric swamp party could have originated believably from just about anywhere in the US. If anything I want to think this is what at it's core defines 'merica. The stuff that isn't happening in the fringes, or the extremes of yet to be adopted sounds but the music that will remain, like punk and garage, played year after year. Not because it's ever trendy or a way to get paid, but because it's what drunk friends want to perform for themselves and each other. Freedom rock, turn it up.

On A-Side's "Detroit Hooker Fight" a long barely audible feedback atmospheric thing leads into a windmill strum warmup where really they're just fucking with you because even after the drums and bass come in on this rehearsal space sound it's nothing compared to the thick handclap whoop filled swampy blues sound that suddenly blows out the speaker. A real dirty Rob Zombie or Tom Waits style vocal, swallowing gravel behind that wall of reverb. The handclaps never let up and these guitars can't ever be loud enough in the heavy riff '70s classic rock sound in something like this. A combo of JSBX and Hot Lunch, the thickness of Thin Lizzy recordings and then dragging this into a Cramps blues swamp sound. Finding that riff, you know that three chord thunder and making it boom over and over pausing for a wah solo, rumbling bass and drum fills. They even drop out for an actual hooker fight sample of girls yelling at each other, I almost completely forgot about the title. I couldn't have imagined a better midsection to this beast.

On B-Side's "Sister Cybele" a slow shallow drum jam meanders in with a screamy ibanez or fuzz box guitar sound that quiets down for a jangly distortion to pick this tempo up with wailing solos on both channels to work against that chunky rhythm. The vocals here are jagged with that blues slant still, swinging dicks and microphones. Which came first? This rhythm and then the vocal or the attitude and that riff? One of life's unanswered mysteries. It's no mystery that they're singing about a girl here. Ozzy was into the devil and all these guys care about is girls and drugs. Psychedelic ones from the sound of where this eventually goes with all sorts of organ and a distortion wah breaking apart that solid riff. Another change into darker wah and heavy sounding guitar, the vocals begin to sound like a fight to stay above water. The waves of these distortions all lining up and sinking the ship like a tsunami wave. The jam here never ends on both channels! They had so much to work out it happened in both ears. These tracks find themselves wasted, spinning out of control in a live epic concert which I hope would be outdoors with bikers.

From their facebook page -

We still have some copies of our first 7" left - hit us up if you see us on the street, or if you prefer home delivery you can Paypal us $5 at peopleelectric503(at)gmail.com.

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