Eagles of Death Metal
Heart On
Downtown Records
ESSENTIAL "(I Used to Couldn't Dance) Tight Pants"
Jesse Hughes is Boots Electric. Josh Homme is Baby Duck. Together they are the misleadingly named Eagles of Death Metal, a band that's more glam sass than brutal thrash on the recently released "Heart On." Hughes and Homme traffic in vintage dude-rock, though EODM leavens its guitar fury with protean grooves and sloppy funk. The sleazy "High Voltage" and libidinous ("I Used to Couldn't Dance) Tight Pants" demonstrate how well-done boogie makes all things palatable. Homme's best work with his other bands, Queens of the Stone Stage and Kyuss, hinged on strong partnerships, and "Heart On" suggests that he and Hughes have bonded well over their plan to trash the dance floor with their hulking arena rock. EODM does not simply stretch out on a water bed of '70s-era pomp. The songs themselves live in the present - and live all over the place. The duo (and assorted co-conspirators who move through the dozen tracks) sounds just as good on the twitchy "Secret Plans" as on the mournful "Now I'm a Fool." While the title track is a gauzy Rolling Stones approximation, EODM is better represented by album-opening "Anything 'Cept the Truth," a song that is the epitome of swagger. (Out now). SCOTT McLENNAN
Eagles of Death Metal play the Paradise Nov. 15. 