Electric Frankenstein - How to Make a Monster (Reissue)
Electric Frankenstein party like its 1999 with the reissue of How to Make a Monster
In the late 90s when I spent a great deal of my spare time thumbing through punk rags like Flipside, I came across a few rock n' roll bands that were on the ears of writers and readers as bands we had to hear and experience. Garage rock n' roll, in particular, had a lot of crossover with punk, so it was only natural for punk scribes to find the appeal in the riff equivalent of dirty, Whiskey-drenched sleaze that these bands were known for. Column after column I read about Zeke, Nashville Pussy, and Electric Frankenstein. Zeke took Motorhead and doused it with gasoline, Nashville Pussy took sleaze to new heights, but for me, Electric Frankenstein was the perfect balance between rock n' roll and punk.
My first Electric Frankenstein experience was their 1999 album How to Make a Monster; a bellowing, rage-filled record that was packed with searing hot riffs, dirty vocals, and at times, sludgy mid-tempo hard rock. This album smoked back in 1999, helped by songs like the rip-roaring opener "Cut From the Inside" and the Motorhead-esque "Speed Girl", that found themselves next to the hard rock/metal tone of "Friction" and the slower, alternative-flavored "Pretty Deadly". It also helped that as a big fan of the Kevin Smith movie Mallrats, the album's closer "Phatty Boom Batty", paid homage to one of the film's most memorable scenes.
Now 20 years later, Victory Records and Electric Frankenstein are celebrating the album's 20th anniversary by remastering and reissuing the record. The remaster sounds fantastic- with the remaster making the songs sound fuller, and with added low-end growl. There is no question the improved quality of the recording over its original 1999 release. The guitars sound crisper than they did on the original, and for once, a record sounding louder comes across as welcomed. There aren't any new songs on here, but the reissue does include new artwork by Coop, new liner notes, as well as few new tidbits found inside. All of it is nice, but the main course of this is the record- and the songs are still as great as they were back in 1999 as they are today. A testament to the songwriting of Electric Frankenstein; not a lot of fuss and devoid of self-indulgent BS. How to Make a Monster is still exhilarating, dirty, and dangerous rock n' roll. It is a sound, fueled by loud guitars and a "f*ck you" attitude that is as timeless and thrilling as the sound of turning that ignition key in a classic American muscle car.