Six Finger Satellite - A Good Year for Hardness

Genre electronica Publisher Sub Pop External Links

Frontman J. Ryan and his motley crew comprise what is fondly known as 6FS or Six Finger Satellite, an example of grass roots music evolution.  Since 1992, they have changed band members with the passing fashion trends and have learned to cultivate a fresh perspective while taking on the heavy weight of recording their own albums under Sub Pop’s generous financial support. Their band has matured and its style has been finely tuned over a decade to form what is now a talented electronic and post-punk fusion.

Their music is oddly compelling: a complex emulsion of early eighties (apparently) Bowie-influenced vocals and indie punk bass and guitar focused melodies.  Songs like “Don’t Let Me,” and “Midnight Rails” sound like they could be performed behind chicken wire in a high-voltage testosterone death camp, otherwise known as a backwater Texas saloon.  Others, like “Swamp Wanda” and “Half Life” are hard-hitting rock and roll.  I can see their underground following pulling out the fists and horns of appreciation.

There are some songs on A Good Year for Hardness, like “Hot Food,” and “Rise” that are synth-driven and what some may call innovative: if by innovative, we’re talking about the clever enchantment of B-movies and the phenomenon that is Mystery Science Theater 3000.  The songs are appealing if you put them on in the background and want to take a magic carpet ride. This album has little commercial appeal. However, if you’re looking for something ‘different’ and would like to take a nap but the bed made of punk is too hard and the bed crafted from electronica is too soft, this bed should be just right.