Peace Love Death Metal (2004)

I was drawn to the Eagles of Death Metal by the name, of course, which sets out to locate its sound at the intersection of "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and Celtic Frost. Who doesn't like that? But the deal was really sealed for me by the participation of Josh Homme, which brought me on board in the first place. Homme's other project, the Queens of the Stone Age, had won me over big-time with a great show in 2000 that made me a fan for life. Jesse Hughes, the other principal in EDM, has the presence to match up against the formidable QOTSA strains Homme brings and turn them in another direction entirely. You may not even be aware how well you already know this album yourself, as it managed to make itself something of a licensing paradise in the middle of last decade, used in television commercials for Ask.com, Budweiser, Comcast, Nissan, Payless ShoeSource, Pontiac, and Wendy's, as well as in movies (Grindhouse, Thank You for Smoking) and video games and more (thank you, Wikipedia). Through the welter of nicknames printed in the accompanying materials and spoken in the tracks—"the Devil," "J. Devil Huge," "Mr. Boogie Man," "Carlo von Sexron," "Baby Duck"—it's a lot of whipping-hard throbbing three-minute grooves crisscrossed with strange aching moments of balladry, 14 songs altogether in 42 minutes. In retrospect, not much "death metal" here after all, but lots of little surprises: Hughes's Al Wilson wannabe falsetto, the open spaces and textures of the rhythm section, which pound but paradoxically do so with a light touch. In many ways it's all there in the New Wave style inclination toward the one defining cover, in this case Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle," which they redub "Stuck in the Metal." Hughes also brings a lot of elfin energy to the enterprise, in his coy asides ("I am so lucky to be playing with this drummer right now!") and the furrowed-brow seriousness that seems to attend him. Formally it's just the two of them, but when they perform they make a point of rounding it up to the usual 2 guitars bass drums. For his part, Homme appears happy playing the supporting role for Hughes, whose personality rattles all through everything here. Homme's guitar is the glorious instrument he has always made of it, a beast poised for one's throat. Maybe better get those feet moving, pardner.