On Lily's iPod: "Death by Sexy" by The Eagles of Death Metal

It started simple enough. I was writing up the blog post one night and carrying on a conversation via messenger with fellow blogger, Chris Sims (ISB in da HOUSE!). Knowing I am a big music fan, he asked if I’d ever heard of a band called The Eagles of Death Metal. I chuckled and answered no (If I had heard of them, I would have remembered a name like that!). So, he sent me a link to watch the video of their release, “I Want You So Hard (The Boy’s Bad News).”

After simultaneously cracking up and rocking out that night to the cameo-ridden vid and then passing the link to Orchid, I went out and bought EoDM’s latest release, “Death by Sexy.”

“Death by Sexy” is the band’s follow up to their 2004 debut, “Peace, Love, and Death Metal” (which I will be picking up shortly). High school buddies, Jesse Hughes and Joshua Homme team up to revisit 70’s rock with lyrics that would have created the soundtrack to the R-rated teen movies that pre-date “American Pie.” It’s that grungy. It’s that sleazy. It’s that good.

The lyrics are definitely an eye catcher. In the track “Don’t Speak (I Came to Bang!),” Jesse Hughes’ slinky vocal seduces you with the following words:

“…Hold me; I’m your fabulous weapon,
I’ll hit your target girl, so use me well.
I’m in too tight, gonna feel it tonight...
Yeah baby, here I stand, I’m your impossible man.”

If you close your eyes, you can visualize a 70’s garage rock kind of band. The kind that sing about seducing barely legal girls and living the fast life. EoDM easily fits into the genre where bands such as Jet forced themselves into the mold. It does help the image that lead singer Hughes, who, according to Heather Phares from the All Music Guide, “sports a mustache not seen outside of '70s porn.”

The boys even take a quirky turn with “The Ballad of Queen Bee and Baby Duck,” which is a short rock n’ roll ode to the relationship of Joshua Homme (Baby Duck) and The Distiller’s lead singer/guitarist Brody Dalle (Queen Bee). I have to say that that particular song is the one I sing to the most. It’s catchy, but edgy at the same time.

Every song on the CD makes you say “I think I’ve heard that before.” But you never really quite put your finger on it. That’s because EoDM put their own spin on these tunes. The fifth track, “Solid Gold” reminded me of the Rolling Stones early work. In fact, Lenny pointed out in the car one day that it was very similar to “Sympathy for the Devil.” But don’t let that stop you from listening to this album.

The tone is frenzied and hot. The driving guitar, beats, and vocal make you want to get up and dance. This is definitely the kind of music you’d expect to hear off of a jukebox in a dark bar. But above all, “Death by Sexy” is a fun time. This is one of the very few albums where I don’t hit the forward button on my iPod mini. There is not a filler song in the bunch.

Go ahead, pick up the album and rock out. As EoDM proudly proclaims in their liner notes, I’ve been “sentenced to death by sexy.” And frankly…what a way to go!