On the Ice Pick Slim EP, the MC5 show themselves to be capable of free-form jamming as well as more structured blues. The two 20-minute free jams, which include John Sinclair on saxophone and Rob Tyner playing the flute, fall short of the band's aspirations. The power and emotion of John Coltrane and Sun Ra is hard to capture when the band's manager is playing an instrument he has far from mastered. With the title "I'm Bad Like Eldridge Cleaver," the third track would be expected to be thick politics and references to the current events of the time, but the lyrics are simply John Lee Hooker's "I'm Bad Like Jesse James" with a name change. Throughout the two jams, the energy of the MC5 shines through, making the recordings very distinct and interesting. The Ice Pick Slim EP is an entertaining document of one of the few rock bands that have ever made a serious attempt to bring rock and free jazz together.

(Allmusic.com)