Eagles of Death Metal - TIMH

The band Eagles of Death Metal were performing in Paris yesterday when their concert was turned into a horrific nightmare. They are an American band that was formed in the late 1990s by Josh Homme and Jesse Hughes. Unlike the events of yesterday, there’s nothing at all serious about EODM and they are a fun, solid band that is worth a listen.

In spite of their name, EODM has absolutely no ties to death metal or any other kind of metal, for that matter. Their schtick is that of a couple of sleazy, self-important misogynistic creeps that play trashy rock and roll dance music. Homme has described their sound as, “bluegrass slide guitar mixed with stripper drum beats and Canned Heat vocals”, but that is not even close to being accurate. Because they don’t take themselves serious, all the while appearing to do just the opposite, and because they’re actually talented musicians, EODM is able to pull off the act without giving too much offense.

Homme and Hughes were high school friends in Palm Desert, California in the 1980s and Homme would go on to found two highly influential bands, Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age. It wasn’t until 1998 that Homme and Hughes started working together and launched EODM. Legend has it that the name of the band was spawned while Homme was listening to actual death metal music, specifically the band Vader. Homme made a comment that Vader was “The Eagles of death metal”, a reference to the 1970s band The Eagles as well as a left-handed compliment to Vader.

With Homme contributing under the pseudonyms Carlo von Sexron and Baby Duck and Hughes adopting a number of monikers including Boots Electric, J. Devil and the Boogie Man, EODM released their first album, “Peace, Love, Death Metal”, in 2004. The album laid the foundation of how the band operated, with Hughes on guitar and lead vocals, Homme on everything else, and a rotating cast of guest stars providing support. That motley crew of contributing musicians has included a diverse bunch of artists including Nick Oliveri, Mark Lanegan, Troy Van Leeuwen, Dave Grohl and Jack Black.

Their second album, “Death by Sexy”, followed in 2006 while “Heart On” came in 2008. Their most recent album, “Zipper Down”, was released last month and EODM is on tour in Europe in support of that record. EODM has a variable touring lineup and, more often than not, Homme is not a part of it. While Homme does a lot of the heavy lifting on the studio albums, EODM is Hughes’ band on the road.

“Whore Hoppin’” off of the album “Peace, Love, Death Metal” 2004, live in Germany June 13, 2015: