X-Ray, Nov 2002

ELECTRIC SIX are "committed to being your total entertainment solution". They are "the sexiest sonic discipline money can buy". They are "a 'let's get to know each other better' kind of aural punishment:'

They are not only in possession of one of the most hilariously self-aggrandizing websites ever assembled by a group of musicians, but are also about to release a single, called 'Danger! High Voltage!', which will put the hip-swingin' groinal thrust back into our rock'n'roll and send screaming guitar noise terror across the nation's dancefloors.

It will storm into clubs in Hoxton, burn down the disco and hang the DJ by his own key-chain. How could it be any better? How about if Jack 'Stripey' White were to sing on it? The great news is: he does!

It's possible that you've already witnessed this monster tune being played on white label at your trendier local nite-spot. Perhaps you thought to yourself, 'Hold on, have the White Stripes gone Studio 54?'

In fact, it was recorded a year or two ago, when Electric 6, a struggling rock group from Detroit with three uncelebrated albums to their name, drafted in Mr. White, himself little more than a local hero at that stage, to join in on the chorus of their putative disco/metal genre-clash. Back then, they were known as the Wildbunch, a handle which they claim was accidentally changed for them by the Asian Band Name Virus.

"Actually," concedes guitarist Surge Joebot, with the husky growl of a fried Hell's Angel, "There's some beat guy from the Bristol neck of the woods who uses that name. Living in New York, we used to work with Tricky from Massive Attack.

"Apparently he's a friend of this guy. It was all done psychically as far as I can tell, because nobody even talked to the guy. But we haven't changed: we're still the bunch and we're wild."

Just as it's questionable whether they've ever worked with Tricky, it's equally unlikely that their saxophone player, as claimed on the single, is really that occasional horn-blower Bill Clinton. "It's true," Surge counters. "There was some girl in Detroit that he was seeing. We just ran into him downtown."

What seems reasonably certain is that the band's line-up consists of Surge, Dick Valentine (vocals), M (drums), Disco (bass) and a character called the Rock And Roll Indian, who ~s described as "another guitarist". And the John S O'Leary is definitely our man Jack: when this writer conducted a phone interview with him a few months back, that was the name he'd checked into his hotel under.

So will 'Mr O'Leary' be appearing with Electric Six when they play their debut UK shows at the end of October? "No," snarls Surge, "he'll never appear with us onstage. He's a mechanic and he's gotta manage his garage in Cleveland." Now that's a lie, surely.