BANG! BANG! "Electric Sex" CD EP   $9.22 - Buy CD

Their live show is very immediate—it is visual with punk-like intensity, and matching outfits—and the stage antics have included dancing girls, sex-wrestling with finger paint, and a variety of other hi-jinks. With an outrageous and original style reminiscent of CBGB’s-era Blondie, The Rezillos, and modern acts like Hot Hot Heat, The Argument, and The Raveonettes, the band has created a sound that demands even the most jaded arms-crossed, shoe-gazing hipster to hit the dance floor and shake into a fucking frenzy to their glammed-out rock and roll stylings. Chicago’s Bang! Bang! has solved the decades-old dilemma of combining an addictively appealing persona with real musical substance.

Although the concept of this “fashion-forward” co-ed 3-piece might seem akin to Brooklyn electro-clash at first glance, Bang! Bang! pulls ahead of that overly-saturated scene with over-the-top performance ability and uncanny musical prowess. Electric Sex (Bang! Bang!’s 1st release for Morphius) includes 6 songs & 2 videos that introduce “at-home” audiences to the comic-book styled personas of band members Gretta Fine and Jack Flash, whose erotic vocal pairing is complimented by captivatingly sex-charged lyrical content and nailed home by the bedroom backbeat of drummer Mike Wednesday.

Yes, some of it is cheeky, but make no mistake—this is not a gimmick band. Bang! Bang!’s canvas jumps from straight rock’n’roll to explorations in rhythmic timing, yet their focus remains the creation of lasting pop—all of which is infused with a debauched nervous energy that permeates the simplicity of the music, exposing a hard-to-pinpoint “edge” that turns fun into something more compelling. This is a band with image but not one to let their songwriting be eclipsed by it, so style and substance coexist side by side in harmony.

Despite Chicago’s reputation as a tough audience to crack, Bang! Bang! was almost instantly accepted by the local scene from their start in early 2003, including a rapid succession of opening slots for Les Savy Fav, Bobby Conn, OK Go, The Gossip, Modey Lemon and many others. In just six months, they had become a household name in Chicago, and began headlining weekends at Chicago’s best clubs, including Empty Bottle, Double Door, Abbey Pub & Metro. Soon thereafter, the band got an unexpected lift from a license deal that put their early cut “High Speed Romance“ on a Copper Label sampler, three million copies of which were distributed free in the U.S. last year.

Since then the band has garnered press and high praise for their high energy live show and self-released “Do You Like It” EP from publications such as Chicago Reader, New City, Venus, The Onion, Time Out Chicago, and even The Chicago Sun-Times.

Contemporary yet campy, sultry and self-consciously a little silly, Bang! Bang!‘s “Electric Sex” will entice with its Coffee, Tea, or Me comic book punk rock antics. Zippers will strain and seams will split as this raucous self-described “sex rock” trio barrels through musical offerings like “Candy Stop” and the artful-but-naughty title track. It’s time to get dirty with Bang! Bang!

Songs:

1. Candy Stop
2. On Fire
3. Make You Believe
4. Something Else
5. Electric Sex (Down On The Dance Floor)

Other Releases by Bang! Bang!:

Bang! Bang! "The Dirt That Makes You Drown" CD

Bang! Bang! "Decked Out" CD

Audio Samples:

Electric Sex (Down On The Dance Floor) - MP3

Reviews:

In my mind, Electric Sex involves porn chicklet Amee Donovan, jumper cables, and a very wet linoleum floor, but Chicago disco punks Bang! Bang! have done a commendable job of convincing me otherwise with their current EP.  Electric Sex’s five tunes run on the same ‘80s funk-and-roll motor used by most of the mopey dopes currently littering the pages of Spin, only frontman Jack Flash and his muse/cohort Gretta Fine add snaky, straight-tie guitars and liberal applications of squeals, yeahs, and woah-oh-ohs where needed. The result is a hot and saucy frappe of downtown club rock and back alley sex grooves that’s hotter and more convincing than the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ affected boho skronk. And yes, you can dance to it, and probably fuck to it, too, though you might wanna stretch a bit before attempting to keep up with the pelvic beat. — Sleazegrinder

Also a contender for the new wave crown, Bang! Bang! Gets it on with “electric Sex” (Morphius), a five-track EP that smells as much like gunpowder as it does sexual essence and sweat. Sexy and feverish, “Candystop” is a difficult-to-ignore call to dance, vertically or horizontally. Vocalist Gretta Fine has mastered the new wave love call on this track and “Make You Believe,” and Jack Flash does his part on the vocals for “On Fire” and “Something More.” By the time they get to duet on the title track, you will probably have soaked at least one towel. — Chicago Free Press