Electric Tickle Machine -- funny name, seriously good music. (B-)

A buddy of mine asked me to go see "Electric Tickle Machine" sometime mid-last week and, as you can imagine, I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting myself into. As it turns out, this New York band not only puts on quite a show, but they also put out a rock-solid debut album (entitled Blew It Again).

For starters, they have a pretty unique band composition that notably lacks a bassist. Yet, even without a bassist, the band doesn't suffer from overwhelming tremble and mid-range tones. Their synth-player, Ryan Renn, (who also maybe dabbles with samples?) amply fills the void. Half of the four-piece band was also committed to percussion, featuring Adam Kautz as their main drummer and percussion-specialist Clark Phillips. Phillips also served as informal pump-up-the-crowd man, with his dancing and free-flying tambourine. Sounds strange, but it was strangely effective.

Obviously, every legit band, almost by definition, also features a good guitarist and singer. Thomas Laplaige, who serves in both capacities for Electric Tickle Machine, rounds out their sound. His talent is also evident on Blew it Again, which was recorded just this year. As a record, Blew it Again is a rather short (under 28 minutes) album that sounds like an upbeat mix of garage, indie, and psychedelic rock. All and all, the band was able to put out an album that sounds both raw and cleanly produced.

Definitely check out these tunes ("Part of Me" and "Bones").



Like what you hear? Buy the album here.