The Electric Eels

Musical Group

A Cleveland proto-punk/garage band active in the early 1970s (c. 1972–1975). Noted for a very small number of chaotic, often interrupted concerts, extremely raw recordings and later compilations that preserved their influence.

Reviews and public sources note a tiny number of live shows (reviews mention six concerts), a 1978 single released by Rough Trade, posthumous compilations, and association with figures such as Morton, McMahon, Dave E. and drummer Nick Knox (later of The Cramps).

Two DeBaser reviews highlight The Electric Eels as an early Cleveland proto-punk/garage act (active 1972–1975). They emphasize raw, chaotic recordings, a handful of notorious live shows and posthumous compilations that preserved their influence. Reviewers cite specific tracks (e.g., "Cyclotron") and compare their sound to MC5, glam and Beefheart-like chaos.

For:Fans of proto-punk, garage-rock collectors, punk historians

For the series they invented punk and didn't even know it... before the Ramones went down in history as the pioneers of the genre with three-chords-three in two minutes... before not knowing how to play was considered a virtue... before Darby Crash and GG Allin were regarded as the champions of self-harm on stage... before punk was commodified into a record to be bought in a store... before the Pistols had concerts canceled by moralistic prudes... before it was cool for a punk to wear Westwood size S shirts instead of being a scummy XXL slob with teased hair... Before all this, between 1972 and 1975, there were the Electric Eels: two guitarists and a singer, to hell with the bassist, sometimes a drummer (Nick Knox of the future Cramps).
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The resulting broth is amphetamine-like and foul-smelling but of undeniable nutritional value, evidenced by its consumption by numerous bands.
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