Amish Electric Chair – Straight. No Chaser

  • Cole Faulkner posted
  • Reviews

Amish Electric Chair

Straight. No Chaser - GC Records

If you’re going to make a career from following in another’s footsteps, you better be wearing the same shoes.  If not, then you run the risk of becoming a reminder that you should dust off some classics on your shelves and relive the real deal.  It’s tough topping your inspirations, but absolutely necessary if that’s the path your band takes.

This was the situation I found myself in while listening to Ohio three-piece Amish Electric Chair’s recent EP Straight. No Chaser.  From the first line on “Social Revolution” I could have sworn I was listening to the angry political punk rock anthems of Anti-Flag.  Blistering rhythms overlaid craggy high-pitched vocal harmonies, converging for a political call to arms that had me hooked and singing along to the chorus by mid-track.  “The answer lies right in front of us, take off the shackles and handcuffs, take one minutes to realize… we may have found a solution, we need a social revolution!” trade off vocalists Neil Tuuri and John Sava in an absolutely text book example of For Blood And Empire era Anti-Flag.

The band continues pumping out quality carbon copies for both “Jellico, Tennessee” and the issue heavy “What We Could Use,” but showcases their slightly more mellow side four tracks in on “State Of The Union.”  Anti-Flag has blown up over the years for their dynamic range and willingness to experiment with tempos and pitches to keep their seven-album career appreciative.  Likewise, Amish Electric Chairbranches out for a strong sense of complexity.  For instance, “Not In My Backyard” concludes the disc with everything from sweeping woahs to thumping bass and stylized guitar solos.

I have consciously limited my references to Anti-Flag for the past few paragraphs because Amish Electric Chair is Anti-Flag incarnate (I could have easily dropped a few Carry-Ons and Menzingers references along the way). I have no experience with the band’s previous sold out debut full length, so I can’t comment on their per-album growth, but if Straight. No Chaser is any indication, it’s something I won’t hesitate tracking down. Simple put, this is punk rock the way it was meant to be played.