Attack of the Killer Track! is a series that explores tracks from artists from a variety of genres. Some of the tracks were singles, some of them were obscure b-sides or long forgotten album tracks. One thing is certain – all of them are killer tracks.
What if I told you that a band that are considered 80’s legends, responsible for some of that generation’s timeless “New Wave” hits reformed in the mid 90’s under a different name with a grunge inspired sound? Not only that, but that the guitarist of The Smiths, a certain Johnny Marr, had a hand in writing a few tunes? Echo & the Bunnymen in their original incarnation broke up in the late 80’s (let’s not discuss the album without singer Ian McCulloch). Egos, members leaving the band (rejoining in some cases), and the death of drummer Pete de Freitas seemed to put an end to the band as we knew them. In the early 90’s, with the explosion of Nirvana, singer Ian McCulloch found inspiration in the rawness of Kurt Cobain’s lyrics and the honesty of the music. He partnered up with Johnny Marr on a few demo recording sessions which proved fruitful – his muse returned. The logical next step was reaching out to Echo guitarist Will Sergeant to rekindle their partnership. It wasn’t Echo & the Bunnymen – not yet, at any rate. Electrafixion is one of the noisiest records either musician has been involved with, and I consider it a lost classic. “Lowdown” was rescued from the Johnny Marr sessions and his influence is felt throughout the track. Echo (sorry) sound f/x, with a jangle that would sound at home on a record by The Smiths, it’s a promising opening minute. Mac’s vocals slither along, he’s cool and he knows it (he’s still like that). Music builds to a garage rock type roughness that was absent on the Echo records. Lyrics seem to reference depression and trying to rise above “You wanna be up there / But you’re underground / Now, now, now / Do you feel it lowdown”. The entire album is pretty great actually, if you like this song you should seek out the double disc reissue that is the entire Electrafixion discography. It is a shame they don’t play these songs live. The rest is history – Echo & the Bunnymen reformed and the new records hold their own against the classics. This phase of their history was forgotten about, never to be revisited with the same sense of angst and noise. Fortunately, records live forever. Enjoy.
http://youtu.be/H89kZCwV1io