Die Electric Eels

VInyl LP pressing. Cleveland's electric eels (all lower case in homage to poet e.e. cummings) was America's quintessential proto-punk band. After only five legendary live performances - complete with Dave E. McManus in black leather jacket covered in rat-traps and playing a gas-powered lawnmower on stage - the eels broke up in 1976 and posthumously released their classic single 'Agitated' on Rough Trade in 1978, blazing a trail for high-art, low-concept rock. This archival LP collects the eels' best material from 1975. From the loud and snotty 'Agitated' and it's B-side 'Cyclotron' (which Johan Kugelberg listed as #1 in his top 100 punk singles) to the anarchic anthem 'Jaguar Ride' and the loose, bluesy sludge of 'Anxiety,' the album exorcises the demonic power of the Stooges and Velvets and captures the mystique of these outsider artists inventing a new language. As the eels demand 'Attendance Required' on their flyer for the infamous Special Extermination Music Night, listening is absolutely mandatory for this seminal band. Recommended for fans of Dead Boys, Simply Saucer and Pagans.