The COVID epidemic knocked down even the most prolific artists, as even if you weren’t on the road, you also had a hard time getting into the studio. It’s been three years since the band’s last, Bride of the Devil (QRO review), eons in Electric time, yet their return isn’t another giant disco-rock album for this actual apocalypse, but a covers record, Streets of Gold – that’s made up of giant disco-rock anthems for this actual apocalypse.
While some of the artists aren’t so surprising, such as KISS, Alice Cooper, or even INXS (they’ve covered INXS single “Never Tear Us Apart” live – QRO video), there are also some that go more indie such as Pixies & Talking Heads, plus the likes of Roky Erickson and The Jam. And the songs chosen generally aren’t the career-making singles, save The Jam’s amazing “That’s Entertainment” & Alice Cooper’s “No More Mister Nice Guy”, but the tier below such as Pixies’ “Hey”, Talking Heads’ “Slippery”, and INXS’ “Don’t Change”. In general, the songs are more altered the further they are out of Electric Six’s wheelhouse, so not much for “Nice Guy”, but a funkified “Slippery”.
Also, for some reason at the end of Streets, the band has included re-recordings of their breakthrough and still most famous songs, “Danger! High Voltage” and “Gay Bar”. They aren’t altered much at all, maybe it’s to reclaim all the rights like Taylor Swift’s new version of Fearless, but it’s always great to hear those two classics again.
Of course, the hard-working band is back out on the road, Delta variant & anti-vaxxers permitting, and Streets of Gold might as much be a promotion for that. But they’ll rock any song, in any apocalypse.
