Six Finger Satellite’s ‘Severe Exposure: Deluxe Edition’ is Out
There’s trouble in the monkey house in the primal official video for Six Finger Satellite’s “Simian Fever (2025 Remaster),” the Severe Exposure: Deluxe Edition album highlight, which you can watch now at YouTube. The new visual, which mixes animation and live action footage, was directed by Christy Karacas and Luca Depardon.
Severe Exposure: Deluxe Edition, the newly remastered and expanded 30th anniversary version of the group’s exhilarating 2nd album, is available today worldwide from Sub Pop.
The Wire, in its recent review of the album, said, ”Six Finger Satellite were ruthless operators. After signing to Sub Pop for Weapon in 1992, they took their advance and began building a studio – The Parlour – in their home base of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, just outside of Providence. Following that debut EP, but before construction was completed on The Parlour, the hard-rocking quintet recorded their first album, 1993’s The Pigeon Is The Most Popular Bird, with Shellac’s Bob Weston. On that sprawling work, Six Finger Satellite (6FS) switched between agitated post-punk that expertly aped The Pop Group, Gang Of Four, and The Birthday Party, and instrumentals featuring analogue synthesizers that functioned like interstitial movements between the splenetic aggressiveness of the songs. 6FS drew upon the previous generation of mutated rock (Devo, Chrome, Big Black) and became harbingers of mutants yet to come (Arab On Radar, The VSS, Men’s Recovery Project). They had few contemporaries outside of Ohio’s avant-garde androids Brainiac.
“With ten songs in 35 minutes, there is not an ounce of excess on Severe Exposure, which makes the generous portion of bonus tracks so welcome. This intensely creative period for 6FS is buttressed by nearly an hour of digital extras that include rarities, remixes, live takes and studio experiments. “Spooks/So Lonely” is like synth punk Neubauten, while “Mistaken Street” harnesses the jaunty robotics of Palais Schaumburg. Live staple “Man Behind The Glasses” makes an appearance, as does “Massive Cocaine Seizure”/”Human Operator” single…Six Finger Satellite have always been severely underrated, but three decades on, the innovative nature of their music cannot be overstated (see The Wire Issue 500, September 2025).”
In addition to the original album, Severe Exposure: Deluxe Edition includes a bonus 12” of the 1994 Machine Cuisine EP, and a download of 17 additional songs, including rare singles (like 1996’s “Massive Cocaine Seizure”), compilation tracks, and unreleased material (see “Parlour Games” Official Video). All the material has been freshly mastered by JJ Golden, and the vinyl is packaged in a lovely slipcase with individual jackets for each LP.
Formed in 1990 in Providence by J. Ryan (singer/keyboards), John MacLean (guitar), Peter Phillips (guitar), Chris Dixon (bass), and Rick Pelletier (drums), Six Finger Satellite quickly signed to Sub Pop for the Weapon EP. Shortly thereafter, they released their landmark 1993 debut, The Pigeon Is the Most Popular Bird. Bassist James Apt would join the band in 1994, making the Apt/MacLean/Pelletier/Ryan the most stable and prolific Six Finger Satellite lineup. Then, in 1995, they released Severe Exposure, which would go on to become the group’s best-selling album to date.
Severe Exposure foreshadowed the early ‘00s revival of post-punk and synth-oriented rock by adding synths to the band’s caustic, tense post-punk sound. All Music called the album, “Herky-jerky pandemonium rife with buzzing guitars and spooky, deliberately melodramatic synth and Moog lines, Severe Exposure is filled with tight, paranoid riffs that fulfills the deepest wish of anyone who ever wanted to find out what the unholy progeny of Big Black and Devo would sound like.” Trouser Press wrote that “‘Rabies (Baby’s Got The)’ and ‘Simian Fever’ are animal aggressive and messy, while sharing the synthetic digitone lusts of new wave.” The SF Weekly praised it as “a party record, the kind you slip on at that inevitable point when you want ‘certain people’ to head home.” Chunklet doubles down on the album’s festive vibe: “Severe Exposure is a guaranteed party…”
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