Six Finger Satellite - Severe Exposure

released 1995

Six Finger Satellite were formed ten years too early; combining the witticisms of Devo, the taught rhythms of Gang of Four and the brutal sonics of Suicide they would have fit perfectly right next the Liars' They Threw Us In A Trench And Stuck A Monument On Top at the most aggressive end of this decade's post-punk revival.

However, they were so out of step with the lo-fi underground of their time that Severe Exposure has never really gotten the recognition it deserves. It's been out of print for years now and is currently not even available on iTunes (I can understand Sub Pop not wanting to print up shiny CD's that no one buys anymore but what on earth are the downsides to putting some files on iTunes) which is unforgivable given its genre classic status, Tim Harrington of Les Savy Fav will tell you that Six Finger Satellite and Braniac are the two bands that had the biggest impact on their sound.

Severe Exposure marks the point at which everything came together for Six Finger Satellite. The keyboards that would come to dominate their later works only add flourishes to John MacLean's destructo guitar parts, singer J. Ryan manages to be simultaneously hilarious and terrifying and the rythym section is as tight as they ever were. So download away and tell Sub Pop that they need to do a re-issue, I'd really like to have this on vinyl someday.

DL