Electric Eel Shock - ‘Beat Me’ (Demolition) - Released 04/07/05

Famous Japanese exports over the years have included sushi, karaoke and Pokemon. Hitherto not so famous Japanese exports include rock band Electric Eel Shock. Born of a thousand Western rock/metal influences Electric Eel Shock pay homage to the greats with twelve guitar heavy rock tracks sung in a Japanese accent.

Thankfully the band donā€™t take themselves too seriously because you canā€™t help but occasionally laugh at some of the lyrics and Akihoto Morimotoā€™s accent as he shouts and snarls about rock and roll in a slightly high pitched voice. But fear not they are a far cry from being Japanā€™s answer to The Darkness. Think more stoner rock meets Black Sabbath, gets married and has little punked up AC/DC children and they all form a family rock band.

ā€˜Scream For Meā€™ sets the tone for the album with classic guitar riffs, a thumping rhythm section and old school guitar solos. Next, the punked up ā€˜Bastard!ā€™ may be short on lyrics, ā€œbastardā€ being pretty much it, but it is big on sound.

Tracks like ā€˜I Can Hear The Sex Noiseā€™ and ā€˜Killer Killerā€™ are great stoner rock songs. Whilst ā€˜Donā€™t Say ****ā€™ contains the fantastic lyric; ā€œyou stink of fish, you disgust meā€. From fantastic lyrics to fantastic titles, how can you not like a track that is called, ā€˜I Love Fish But Fish Hate Meā€™?

The only problem with singing slower songs like ā€˜Lemon Leesā€™ is that you have no idea what Morimoto is singing, apart from the line; ā€œgimmie gimmie a dwinkā€. The album ends with a little gem, a funked up, speeded up cover version of Black Sabbathā€™s ā€˜Iron Manā€™.

Electric Eel Shock is much more than just a novelty band. If you want some good old fashioned fun with some classic rock/metal riffs, stick this CD on, crack open a bottle of ice cold saki, and crank it up on the air guitar.