If {$Electric Six} never contributed anything to {\pop} music besides {&"Danger! High Voltage"} -- one of the most immediate, crazed singles in years -- the band would still have the distinction of being one of the most unique-sounding one-hit wonders in late 20th century memory. {^Fire} doesn't necessarily offer proof that this won't be {$Electric Six}'s ultimate fate, but it does suggest that they have more tricks up their sleeve than might be expected. It's true that {&"Danger! High Voltage"} is easily the best song on {^Fire}, an addictive mix of stylishness and silliness that sounds like some kind of bizarre love triangle between {$the Rapture}, {$Tenacious D}, and {$Andrew W.K.}, but several songs work nearly as well. {&"Dance Commander"}'s big {\arena rock} choruses, zooming keyboards, and yelped falsettos recall their big hit without merely copying it; {&"Improper Dancing"} is surprisingly funky, with its brittle guitars and slick {\disco} feel providing the perfect setting for the band's macho flippancy. {&"Gay Bar"} is more on the {\garage}/{\punk} side of their sound, confusing war and violence with sex and dancing, with loads of adolescent sexual innuendo (but is there any other kind?), as is {&"Getting into the Jam,"} which is almost certainly not about discovering a classic {\mod}-{\punk} band. The power {\ballad} {&"I'm the Bomb"} might be the second-best song on {^Fire}, awash in gurgling synths and shiny guitars as singer {$Dick Valentine} shamelessly delivers lines like "Who elected you judge and jury in the body of a beautiful girl?" The rest of the album has an appealingly throwaway quality, spanning the {\new wave} send-ups {&"Synthesizer"} and {&"Electric Demons in Love"} as well as the campy {\arena rock} of {&"Fashion and Vengeance"} and {&"She's White."} Though they're not on par with the band's best moments, they do hold up much better than might be anticipated, and prove that {$Electric Six}'s M.O. of inflating {\rock} clichés to grotesque proportions, adding a dash of tongue-in-cheek pomposity, and then laughing at the results can generate more than just a great single. Granted, that single is still the reason to own {^Fire}, but fans of that song probably won't feel burned by the rest of the album. [This Japanese release includes bonus material.] ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide