ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK – THE UNDERWORLD – LONDON – 10/06/2015 – REVIEW
Polished, well kept, clean cut, all words that could be used to describe a majority of bands that take to UK venues these days. But in the shady basement of Camden’s Underworld, spag bol loving, gurning professionals and fishing enthusiasts Electric Eel Shock came to inject the scene with some good old fashioned gritty garage rock.
This three piece have been spreading their world of sleazy rock ‘n’ roll for 21 years now, and at one point it looked like they were going to be Japan’s next big export with tours across the world since their early years and signing with big time US metal and rock label Roadrunner in 2006. Though, as reminded by ex-tour manager Bob Slayer during his 45 minute stand-up set/apology, the band slowly faded out of the lime light, losing the label along with the big time support and festival slots. Are their spirit’s broken? Not even in the slightest.
Forever dedicated to spreading their love of heavy metal, EES are still more than capable of lighting a venue ablaze, pulling in their small yet loyal followers that have stuck with them since the very beginning wherever they may go. Kicking up a fuss with their trademark execution (yes the drummer still plays stark naked) of timeless classics such as ‘Bastard’, ‘Suicide Rock’N’Roll’ and ‘I Can Hear The Sex Noise’, devotees also got a preview of ‘Ninja Slayers’, their first new track since 2009 that was featured as the ending song for episode 6 of studio TRIGGER’s latest show ‘Ninja Slayer’ (probably wasn’t a coincidence).
If their use of British slang and taste for British food wasn’t a give away, Electric Eel Shock have become a staple here in the UK, and the fact that they showed off their first piece of new material in years only gives us hope that bigger and better things are just round the corner for the gruesome threesome. It wasn’t big, it wasn’t fancy, but it’s everything we could have asked for, another balls to the wall performance from one of Japan’s most notorious underground rockers.
Words by Charles Shepherd