The Electric Chairs

About

Seemingly inspired by both The New York Dolls and Jabbers-era G.G. Allin, New York City’s Wayne County & The Electric Chairs played trashy rock ‘n’ roll crammed through a punk filter as their gender-bending frontman spewed hilariously vulgar lyrics that both celebrated and made fun of being flamboyantly gay. Though they purportedly formed in 1974, their eponymous debut album didn’t surface until 1978. <i>The Electric Chairs</i> opens with the '50s spoof “Eddie & Sheena” before the driving “Bad in Bed” better sets the tone with hard-swinging guitars and Wayne County’s androgynous vocals spitting out emasculating insults. “Out of Control” sounds like smarmy, Kim Fowley–influenced pulp-punk, while “Max’s Kansas City” pays homage to the legendary nightclub and the mid-'70s punk scene while namedropping the Dolls, Patti Smith, The Ramones, and The Heartbreakers (among others). Following a few more albums, Wayne would travel to Europe and return from Berlin as transgender rocker Jayne County, who inspired the musical and movie <i>Hedwig and the Angry Inch.</i>

via Apple Music

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