Eagles of Death Metal -Death By Sexy

Thu 31st Aug, 2006 in Music Reviews

The sophomore release by Eagles of Death Metal titled Death By Sexy verifies the talent of Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme, also referred to as ‘The Dream Boys’. If you can put your indie sensibilities aside, along with your expectations and hopes that this will be along the lines of Queens of The Stone Age or Kyuss, you will come to realise that this is one helluva dirty rocknroll album.

Evident by the final product, these two musicians examine the fact that rock doesn’t have to be serious and acute, it can be playful too. Their talent is even more exemplified by the fact Death By Sexy was recorded in twelve days and produced by drummer Josh Homme. However, continuity or flow of the album was obviously not high on their priority list. The songs are all over the place. If they wanted to do a piss-take, then the Jesse Hughes’ caricature which he creates needs to be more apparent, not merely on the first two tracks and number six. I can understand the hilarity of this sexed-up “crazy” character but after one listen it becomes too much. The album starts off feebly yet works up to some fabulous innovative tunes you could thus leave in your cd player for weeks!

Disappointingly there is not much variety in Homme’s drumming and it’s relatively standard. Though if dirty sex-laden rocknroll is what you’re after, then I suppose primal, basic beats are the way to go. The hooks and guitar solos, in particular on their current single ’I Want You So Hard’ are instantly cringe-worthy but once you get your head around them they do not appear to be as tragic. The unrelenting sighing and panting in songs such as ‘I Got A Feelin’’ and flirtatious lyrics, such as “I can be your daddy, be your rocknroller, you can be my sugar, be my cherry cola” are innocent and can sometimes be slightly inappropriate, but never offensive. ‘Cherry Cola’ is most definitely a tune that’ll see every kid rocking out; jutting their hips and prancing around the dance floor it’s exceedingly contagious. Watch out!

And so here is where the album becomes possibly one of the daftest and coolest pieces of music you’ve heard in a long time. Track five, ‘Solid Gold’ starts with maracas and a slide guitar, then evolves into a funk piece and Hughes keeps you waiting for vocals… a minute later… “Sweat!” This is the finest piece of hip wiggling, hand clapping, rock you will hear nowadays. The genius of ‘Solid Gold’ is that it’s so unexpected. And who thought rock had to be serious?  ’Chase The Devil’ and ‘Bag o’Miracles’ are other unexpected, country-fused toe tappin’ tunes. The former is good ol’ time rocknroll you envisage being played in a massive hall with a blend of line and swing dancing. These songs are remarkably different, but don’t fear, the passion has not disappeared. Hughes provides us with sultry whispers and chaotic yelping too.

The use of percussions, cheek, squeals and devilish laughter hold the remaining tunes together. Added to the cock-rock of songs like ‘Cherry Cola’ the album has some extremely camp moments; check out ‘Shasta Beast’. If this album could be a sexual relationship, it would be a one-night stand. I think ‘the dream boys’ would be very happy with that, considering they are “heartbreaker(s) bringing death by sexy”.