By Skippy Neddlemeyer

The name says it all. The monster of Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley's timeless Gothic novel represents an unstoppable enigma created by ambition gone awry. Sheer strength and brute force characterized the monster. Compulsion and obsession gave the monster life, craftiness and cleverness kept him alive, and the ability to play on the human condition and our psyche made the monster and his story legendary. And, after 13 years in the underground, over 100 record releases, the Punk Rock and Roll band, Electric Frankenstein, embodies all of these qualities and then some.
Refusing to die and instead growing wiser and stronger, EF knows that their fans and the music industry needs them now more than ever. "A lot of bands are just terrible and people should just tell them," states the "mad scientist" originator Sal Canzonieri from his home phone in New Jersey. "Now-a-days most bands are not even worth listening to. If there were a lot less bands, the music scene would be better and bigger because right now it's only confusing a lot of people. You go in to a mall record store and all you want to do is run out," he laughs.
"I hear a lot of people tell me that they go in to the record stores and look at all of these bands that they never heard of, most by major labels (the worst ones), and they just leave. They don't buy anything. I blame that on the major labels because all they've cared about the last 5 years is the One Hit Wonders so that they could make the quick money. There's no artist development, so that means that nobody knows who half the bands are that they put out," Canzonieri explains.
"Also," he continues, "a lot of bands today are based on everybody new, so they sound like the other 1,000 versions of the same junk, which we try not to do. We base what we do on all the famous rock bands that have existed in the past, and I don't think we sound generic because of that."
There's nothing generic about EF's music. It has withstood the test of time out of sheer originality, and it seems as if now the band is finally catching on and finding its audience outside of its loyal cult following. Having their songs or artwork featured in many videogames, movies and TV shows, including X-Files, Dawson's Creek, Signs, American Psycho 2, Flophouse, Tony Hawk's Proskater, and the occasional porno flick as well, (just to name a few) everybody is finally catching up to what EF has been doing for the last 13 years, serving up intense, uncompromising rock and roll with a punk twist.
"We work real hard," says Canzonieri. "We all have been playing for over 20 years, so we got good at writing and arranging. The music always comes first in the writing process and then the vocals are added as a separate instrument. We make sure that the lyrics are well done and fit without being just clich*s that we just threw in, ya know, like the typical rock-n-roll dumbo lyrics."
Longevity has made EF's future is as bright as ever. February is the release of the EF book by Dark Horse Comics/Books Inc. There will be in-store book signings, live appearances, art gallery exhibitions, and more! Also, EF has let its contract expire and parted ways with the Victory label and is in the midst of writing and recording a demo of (what they call) their VERY BEST songs ever. "Over the past 13 years, EF has saved their very best songs for the future, and that future is now! So, stay tuned for next year's release of their 13th and Best Album of all-new unreleased material!" It states on the band's website at www.electricfrankenstein.com. The band is also launching two clothing lines and other merchandising like skateboards, toys and video games.
On December 20, Bubba's Beach Club on 17th Street will play host to Electric Frankenstien. Garnering critics' praise and having musicians as fans (like Metallica, Monster Magnet, Joey Ramone and Jon Spencer), EF has toured the world over and played with some of the biggest names in the industry, so the show at Bubba's is a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with a real Monster.