One of the most common misconceptions in rock ‘n’ roll lore is that Kurt Cobain killed hair metal. Not true – the genre was dead long before Nevermind came out, and it probably happened around the time Trixter and Ugly Kid Joe showed up. No, what Cobain killed was the mythology of the Rock Star, the all-powerful, mighty, glorious Sex God whose presence we should be honored to be in. For decades, singers like Gene Simmons and Steven Tyler were presented this way, and it worked. But when Cobain showed up, with his raw lyrics and decidedly un-glamorous appearance, he made all of that look quite silly. That’s why, for the last 25 years, that traditional Rock Star concept has more or less died out. Or, more accurately, it now only exists in ironic form.
One of the best examples of this phenomenon is Eagles of Death Metal, a collaboration between Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme that sounds nothing like The Eagles or death metal. Rather, they have an old-school, cheerfully unrefined garage rock sound. The band also specializes in a heavy dosage of sleaziness, with song titles such as “I’m Your Torpedo,” “Heart On,” and “Don’t Speak (I Came to Make a BANG!),” all of which would make Lemmy proud.
The thing is, the sleaze never seems totally serious, but it also doesn’t seem like a complete mockery. Rather, it’s a tongue-in-cheek homage to the days of the Sunset Strip. After a seven-year drought, EODM have finally re-entered the fold with their fourth album, which they named Zipper Down, because of course they did. The album features the same mixture of irony and sincerity that has worked so well for the band for more than a decade now, particularly on the single “Complexity,” which features the ramshackle feel that has become their calling card.
Of course, EODM are hardly the only band to pull off the simultaneous parody of and tribute to the excess of ’70s and ’80s rock. There’s also Steel Panther, a band that takes the lyrical tropes of hair metal to their logical extreme, with songs like “It Won’t Suck Itself,” and “Let Me Cum In.” The band is decidedly un-PC, as they also have songs like “Gold-Digging Whore,” and “She’s on the Rag.” Whether or not the fact that it’s all a big joke is enough to overlook the band’s casual sexism and homophobia is in the eye of the beholder, but longtime hair metal fans can appreciate the band’s expert skill in taking sleaze to its breaking point.
What makes these bands (and more like them, a la The Darkness) work so well is the idea that they aren’t completely joking or completely serious. If Steel Panther and Eagles of Death Metal meant every word of their sex-fueled lyrics, we’d be rolling our eyes at the immaturity. Likewise, if it was all a big joke, and didn’t come out of a genuine appreciation of the music being parodied, it would just seem mean-spirited and ultimately worthless. Essentially, bands like Eagles of Death Metal and Steel Panther give glam rock and hair metal fans a chance to have their cake and eat it, too. We can enjoy some old-school sleaze rock while also acknowledging how ridiculous it is.
In 1984, This Is Spinal Tap gave us a definitive spoofing of everything ridiculous about rock ‘n’ roll, and heavy metal in particular, from the oversexed (and casually sexist) lyrics, to the overambitious stage designs (Stonehenge!). At the time, it was mocking a heavy metal world that lacked any self-awareness about itself, and was utterly sincere in all its bombast. Nowadays, however, a film like that would seem unnecessary; everyone is in the on the joke. In the post-Cobain era, we’ve come to realize how ridiculous the trappings of the traditional Rock Star archetype are, and no one is better at mocking them than the musicians themselves.
