5 out of 5

Label: Touch and Go

Produced by: Ted Niceley

All is well with the world when an EP understands what it means to be an EP.  I mean, using it as a mini-album or a preview of something isn’t against the law, of course, but why isn’t it part of a bigger picture?  So I love it when an extended play justifies itself by just being different: being something that wouldn’t fit on the albums before or after it.  What’s unique about Disco Six Six Six is that it satisfies that while obviously also containing a track from House of GVSB, but the context totally changes the effect of that track.  House is slick as hell, a polished stone on the group’s way to Freakonica; still working with Niceley, it still maintained the scuzzy club vibe on which the group built its sound, but the songs are still very streamlined.  Isolating this EPs title track removes the aural barrier the House album’s unwavering tones can create, and immediately allows us to appreciate just how goddamn catchy and good the song is.  The disc then bridges to rawer material with ‘Distracted,’ but even that bridge carries a looseness to it that hadn’t really been heard (from the group) since Venus Luxure.  All This And More: the keys get a workout on the mini and sound amazing; there are fucking guitar solos and the riffage on Black Leather is intense.  Even the fuzzed out nonsense jam of Keep Your Pants On rocks, and works just dandy as the concluding track.

The D666 is not only a collection of strong songs, it’s also a perfect package of a version of the GVSB sound that truly wouldn’t work had these tracks been interspersed into other albums.  It’s a pretty grand gem to own, especially if you go into it assuming that cuts recorded during the House of GVSB sessions would stick with that album’s relative polish.