Peace Love Death Metal

"Together, as Eagles of Death Metal, we have smashed through the void going straight to the top and teaching the world how to boot scoot again" -- from the Eagles of Death Metal official site

Somewhere out there, some of you must be Kyuss or Queens of the Stone Age fans. Okay, at least one. So, this article is for you. Heard the Eagles of Death Metal yet? Josh Homme, the singer from Queens of the Stone Age recently booted Nick Olivieri outta the band for having "too much of a drug problem." Is that possible in a band with such a reputation? I guess so. Anyway, so QOTSA is in limbo, and it's just in time for the release of Eagles of Death Metal's first album "Peace Love Death Metal." Any Kyuss fanatics out there may remember that the EODM showed up on a couple of the Desert Sessions releases awhile back. Most of those 'bands' on the Desert Sessions records are really just one-offs. The Green Monarchs, for an example. Josh Homme plays drums with EODM as Carlo Von Sexron. Josh also sings about half of the songs. Timmy VanHammel plays guitar (origin unknown), and Jesse Hughes sings lead and plays bass. Do not be mistaken, this album is neither death metal, nor a Kyuss/QOTSA clone. They actually cover "Stuck in the Middle" (except they call it "Stuck in the Metal") from Stealer's Wheels, and rip off "Spirit In the Sky!" So, think of those songs, and you'll get an idea of the pace of this album. It's all '70s rock and roll. Nothin' to do with stoner rock or death metal at all. It's really good, too, none of it comes off as metal or hard rock like QOTSA does. This is all out rawk. The singer looks like one of the Village People, though. I think that may be intentional: lots of denim, big cop-mustache, biker cap. It's almost like a joke. The first song "I Only Want You," may be the strongest track on the record as far as immediate surface appeal is concerned, but the whole thing gets better with repeated listens. "Speaking in Tongues" could've been a Cramps song, "So Easy" starts out almost like something from Kiss, "Flames Go Higher" and "Kiss the Devil" have a gospel chorus with a greasy rockabilly stomp (Homme is obviously having a good time playing the drums), "Bad Dream Mama" could be what they're referring to up there when they talk about boot-scooting, "San Berdoo Sunburn" is the track that rips off "Spirit In the Sky," and my personal favorite is the last song, "Miss Alissa," it almost sounds like something the MC5 could've written. The whole record sounds like the songs were recorded in one or two takes (probably because they were). The bass/drums/guitar sparseness works really well with the dual vocals. Unfortunately, Homme can't get away from QOTSA comparisons because his voice is so distinctive. It doesn't matter here, because maybe the choruses sound like QOTSA, but musically, it's so different. Go buy, download, steal this rekkid, cuz it's worth it.

I Only Want You