FIFTY PERCENT FLANNEL. The men of Electrolyte Empire spent six months recording their debut EP with local audio engineer/producer Jaime Hansen.

Pouring sweat, thrashing bodies, and loud music – this is no energy drink buzz. The riffs and non-stop rock mayhem suggest the best of the early 90s or Jimi Hendrix. The sound is raw and uncanny, like Jimmy Page if he crashed a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert at Burning Man. This must be an Electrolyte Empire show. Featuring four local boys, Justin LeMay, Jim Strum, and the brothers Patrow (David and Joel), Electrolyte has a one-word mission statement: Intensity.

Come the end of March, Electrolyte Empire will release the seven-song Underfoot EP. Local audio engineer/producer Jaime Hansen first saw them at a show at the Bottle & Barrel last summer. Struck by their powerful performance, Jaime was compelled to record them. Over a six-month period beginning last August, Electrolyte Empire recorded said EP through Jaime’s mobile studio.

“I love my family, I love my kids, but sometimes I need to jam with my friends, sweat, and have a blast playing rock ‘n roll.” – Justin LeMay, drummer for Electrolyte Empire

“Anything rock ‘n roll,” the band’s guitarist, Joel, says of their sound. “But it has to be rock ‘n roll. Really, it’s not anything but rock ‘n roll.”

Anything with a riff that sets the frets aflame will do, but the band describe their sound as channeling a core of classic rock through 90s rock songwriting and instrumentation. Lyrics are often political and social topics, though it’s singer Jim Strum’s snarl-and-roar vocal presence that ices Electrolyte’s cake. Since the band’s coalescing, they make a point to keep the music heavy, technical, and energetic. This necessitates onstage instrument-pummeling and aggressive stage presence, from transition and bridge to behind-the-head guitar solos and crushing breakdowns. Thus, their showmanship and musicianship are in a complementary and tireless race to out-invigorate each other, the music, the band members, and their listeners. David and Justin were disbanding their old grunge/metal outfit Amorea when Joel and Jim’s band also collapsed. The brothers assembled Electrolyte Empire with Jim while David (bassist) and Justin (drummer) lost touch with one another. A number of drummers backed the band during this time, and more than two years would pass until David and Justin reconnected over Taco John’s and an early Electrolyte Empire demo. Not long after, Justin assumed the drum throne. “That first practice felt like we had been playing forever,” said Justin. “It just meshed.”

But going beyond the music, the Electrolyte ensemble is busy young men with more on their hands than time to write music. Jim and David each work two jobs, Justin is a husband and father of two, and Joel holds down two jobs while going to school for molecular biology and chemistry. Regardless, the band make a point to find time to write, record and impress themselves upon Eau Claire’s music scene.

“I love my family, I love my kids,” says drummer Justin LeMay, “but sometimes I need to jam with my friends, sweat, and have a blast playing rock ‘n roll.”

The band performs largely in and around the Chippewa Valley, but after their CD hits the streets and the release party, performances in Minnesota and Illinois are in their crosshairs.

“The coolest thing, personally, is seeing them live,” said Jaime, “but I’m really looking forward to what they’re going to be. If they keep going, they are going to be absolutely unstoppable.”

Although Electrolyte’s CD release have yet to be announced, you can catch them at Decadent Cabaret at the House of Rock on March 5, plus in Madison at The Frequency March 16. Keep up with them via Facebook and MySpace, and find their EP at The Local Store when it releases.