Eagles of Death Metal
BY Chris Bilton
November 12, 2008 13:11
EAGLES OF DEATH METAL PLAY THE MOD CLUB (722 COLLEGE) NOV 13.
Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme’s propensity for turning side projects into full-time bands continues with Eagles of Death Metal. His garage-rock duo with Jesse Hughes is now three full-lengths into a musical endeavour that began as little more than an offshoot of Homme’s Desert Sessions project. With Heart On, their sound has matured from the gimmicky post–Bo Diddley playfulness of their debut album through clever and deliberate overproduction that comes across like big-budget lo-fi — a move that sees them trade some of the band’s switchblade-like precision for a more enduring musical statement. While several of these songs are constructed from rudimentary garage-blues scraps (“Secret Plans”), even some of the most obvious ideas (“Wanabe in LA”) thrive thanks to Brillo-pad distortion, twitchy lead guitar and a well-placed cowbell. But only the wobbly riff on album closer “I’m Your Torpedo” evokes the kind of undeniable catchiness of QOTSA’s massive hit “No One Knows” and shows off Homme’s other talent: turning stylistic tangents into golden pop nuggets.
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