Mr. Strange - Electric Pornography

I am going to start this review off by saying that I was rather disappointed when I found out that The Shanklin Freakshow had come to an end after releasing such oddball circus rock music. I became a fan of them and loved their music more than one person or the next can understand, and seeing the fine gents call it off was rather heartbreaking (I may have cried a little). However, Lord be praised as three members of The Shanklin Freakshow banded together to form Mr. Strange. 

While this certainly isn't a makeover of the Shanklin Freakshow (you won't be finding much circus related material - but definitely some freaky shit), Mr. Strange is a step forward for the titular frontman, Mr. Stench, and Mr. Stirling along with the help of The Secretary, who provides them with photos and masks and the like. Banging off themes of homosexuality, transgenders, and all things in between with dark humor and an electrorock-dance fueled agenda, Mr. Strange is a bright new act from a crew of lovely individuals. 

Their debut album has been titled "Electric Pornography", so if you're already questioning as to whether or not this would be something your local good-willed priest would approve of, this might not be for you. The album begins off with 'Born Again', which has some lovely, but creepy dark ambient music played out with xylophone like clicks, but that goes away all too soon as what I can only describe as an orgy with at least ten participants plays off. Along with the sound of a baby crying. It was rather disturbing, but the slow lead into a quasi-spoken word ballad, finalized with grandiose organ music is nothing short of fantastic. 

The album then breaks down into a mix of industrial rock and pure dance music injected with Mr. Strange's always odd vocals. If there's any one element from The Shanklin Freakshow that was brought over to Mr. Strange, it would honestly be his voice. I don't blame him, though, as his singing is pretty much perfected and weird enough to fit right in with the rest of the beats. 'Deviant Ritual' and 'Disco Bitch' are testimonies to this. 

But, anyway, as I was saying, the album is a gigantic blend of industrial rock songs and electro-dance heavy songs. On the industrial rock side, you've got tracks such as 'Tension', 'Jonathan', and 'Fag'. On the other side 'Sodom Nights', the already mentioned 'Deviant Ritual', and the title song are all readily available to get your feet moving. 

Now, my personal favorite song on the album would be 'Do It Like Pete Burns' for two reasons. Reason one is because I absolutely adore 80s Pete Burns' fashion and style; I'm almost positive that I could pull it off in one sense or another. The second reason is because the song is incredible. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the band also took queues from their ever so popular song 'You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)' at least for the chorus. If not, then that song and the overall style of Pete Burns and his aid in pushing forward 80s pop directly influenced it. Nonetheless, the song is unbelievable, and I'll be returning to this over and over. 

Another surprise on the album would be the cover they did of Gary Numan's 'Stormtrooper In Drag'. In comparison to all the other songs on the album, this track really showcases the bands melodic side; they're able to take the song and give it a handsome new coating without degrading or disrespecting the original. That's exactly what a cover should do, and Mr. Strange was able to pull it off. 

Coming in a circle, yes, I was sad that The Shanklin Freakshow shut down their wicked circus. However, in a sense I'm really happy they put out a finale otherwise Mr. Strange would have most likely never seen the light of day. They are a peculiar kind of offbeat brethren walking hand in hand with one another in the name of tastefully offensive and wonderful electrorock, and "Electric Pornography" defines both their personalities and music more than you can imagine. 
Nov 19 2015