Something Is Definitely Wrong by El Destructo, 2009
Website: El Destructo
Home Base: Easton, PA
Genre: Rock, Punk
Compared To: GWAR, Butthole Surfers, Fear, Black Flag
Influenced By: GWAR, Clutch, Butthole Surfers, Ozzy Osbourne, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams
Bio: EL-DESTRUCTO, founded in 1993 by frontman “SATAN BRAIN” and identical twin brother “MR. MOJO”, originally started as a Ministry/WhiteZombie style industrial band. During the prenatal stages of El-Destructo, the band relied heavily on members “SCOTT (a.k.a. Fuzz) ANDREWS” and “BIG ROB DALY” for programing. After they left the band to pursue other interests, Satan Brain and Mr. Mojo restructured the group into an all live band.
Wandering in and out of limbo over the next few years, the band finally resurfaced in 1996 to record and released a garage demo. They soon found themselves powerless, losing the lead guitar player to drug addiction. Wandering in and out of limbo even more over the next few years, El-Destructo saw quite a few changes in the line up. In 1998, the original guitar player, fresh from rehab made a short lived appearance back with the band, only to leave bound for rehab once again. This time period also saw a change in drummers due to conflicts of interest. Having found a solid ally in “Lance Lucifer” (originally the bands bass player), Satan brain and Mr. Mojo once again resurrected the band from the dead. This time they apparently found the dream team. The band took on “WRONG WAY WOLINSKY” to fill the position on drums. “70’s” materialized to play bass, shifting Lance Lucifer to guitar. Most recently, they gained the world renowned scratch attack of philly based “DJ Karl K” (KOLDFRONT / higher education / www.injection2012.com ), adding yet another element of mayhem to their sound. Mr. Mojo rarely appears live with the band. He reportedly suffers extreme stage fright. Together, the members deliver musical terrorism like a well placed punch in the kisser!
The band has shifted into high gear recording several tracks at SIGMA STUDIOS in Philadelphia Pa. This studio is home to such albums as the “BEE GEE’S” Saturday Night Fever sound track, “THE VILLAGE PEOPLE’S” infamous Y.M.C.A. track, “DAVID BOWIE’S” Young American, Dog Pound Rapper “KORRUPT”, and too many R&B acts to even mention. Releasing a seven song CD at the end of summer 1999, El-Destructo continues making progress.
Calling Philadelphia home, the band has organized several small tours, going as far as the Black Rock Desert Nevada to play the infamous “BURNING MAN FESTIVAL”. As for recording, they are currently behind schedule on releasing the much anticipated full length CD, originally hoped for (the seven song ep.was released late August 99) in the fall of 1999. Questioned on this, the band states, “El-Destructo will serve no music before it’s time.” We would rather take our time and release a quality product vs. rushing to meet a deadline. You set a date as a goal, then you work according to what feels best. There’s well over a Cd worth of material on our set list. We want our material to be the best it can possibly be when we do release it. How many times have you purchased a bands album only to find one or two songs of substance, and the rest meaningless filler? Not to mention the fact we’re doing this (the band owns the label it’s released on) all on our own. It’s alot of f*cking work!”
Labeling El-Destructo is no easy task. When doing so, one might find themselves using the word diverse. Styles range from old school punk (HOT RODS TO HELL), reggae (REGGAE SONG), Jazz (GREAT), gangsta punk (WITNESSES DIE), to white trash redneck rock (NAPALM PLANE). Even the early industrial format can be heard on the EP version of “RATS”, currently the only song released from the early days of the band.
El-Destructo refuses to be labeled or stereotyped. The band states, “We play the music we feel like playing. This can vary greatly depending on our mood from day to day. We’re usually pissed about something though. Life can be a frustrating event.”
To sum up the bands live performances: love or hate these guys, you’ll never forget you saw them play! One can typically expect to witness fire breathing, destruction of certain objects, and usually a few naked or scantily clad dancing girls, and other unforgettable acts.
Like mold on bread, EL-DESTRUCTO has taken hold. Recent times have seen EL-Destructo appear with such acts as CLUTCH, GWAR, CKY, ANTHRAX, THE MISFITS, DANZIG and several others. Totally independent the band cranks out all the material themselves. From their web site, merchandise, CDs and even self produced videos. With the full length album, “Something is Definately Wrong”, the throttle is stuck wide open and the brake cables slashed. As one fan stated, “there’s good music, fire, beer and girls. What more could you want from a band?” Spreading from coast to coast via street teams, the bad seeds of rock’n'roll grow stronger and multiply.
My Review: During the late 1980’s, as Punk rock began to loose popularity, many of the Punk bands, such as Green Day, began to “tone down” their lyrics and the Pop Punk genre was born. El Destructo wasn’t one of them!
El Destructo is the real deal, boys and girls! This band isn’t for “wussies”! The music is loud and explicit. The lyrics are political, anti-establishment, anti-authoritarian and rebellious. To further impart their message to the audience, as in most early Punk bands, the lyrics are more shouted than sung. El Destructo embodies many of the characteristics of the early Punk bands such as The Ramones and The Sex Pistols. They even show contempt for the idealistic Hippie movement of the 60s. Since rock and roll was developed out of rebellion, many believe that the Punk movement was the natural and true evolution of rock and roll.
For the most part, the drumming and guitar playing is fast and furious. Syncopation is not a big factor in this style of music. Guitar solos and complicated bass lines are, for the most part not acceptable. One exception is Reggae Song, which does have some nice guitar work about mid way through. All in all I found the music to be quite catchy with some good hooks. You just have to keep your brain in overdrive to take it all in!
Satan Brain’s vocals are well done, as I mentioned, more shouted than sung. They have that slight nasal twang characteristic of early Punk groups. This “twang” also imparts sort of a sneer or sound of contempt which the band has for society. Which is exactly what they are supposed to do.
They say all good bands are hard to classify because they play diverse styles, so whether you call El Destructo “old school Punk”, Hard Rock or Heavy Metal, they do get your attention and play some damn good music! I rate them 10 stars and a “thumbs up”! Trust me when I tell you the album is a lot more explicit than these tracks!
WARNING! These songs and videos contain explicit language and/or graphic images that some may find offensive!
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