This
is on the contrary to my status as a woolly liberal feminist, I simply adore
him and can't get enough of his amazing music no matter how much I cringe at
the line "If you wanna pass, why don't you kiss this side of my
ass?"* and am too embarrassed to listen to Solo Flights, the 3 minute
falsetto ode to masturbation, on the bus in case anybody hears. In interviews
the sight of him flirting with young music journalists and making lewd comments
about his pornstar 'tache make my skin crawl. I don't want to change him, be
him or even sleep with him but my sense of liberal guilt at the audacity of his
lyrics simply evaporates when I'm dancing round the room to ‘Miss Alissa’ in my
pyjamas at full volume.
Flippant interview comments aside there is a 'darker' political aspect to Jesse Hughes. As a committed member of the Nation Rifle Association Hughes is a gun advocate who claims that hunting isn't fair because "they can't shoot back", a statement that seems rather sinister given the problems faced by America in terms of gun and gang culture. Jesse Hughes is also an ardent republican who believes Obama is a communist talking head, a view that I don't personally take, and seems perhaps a little blinkered in light of recent health care reforms and progressive political change in general. During the interview where Jesse Hughes made his views on Obama clear he also makes a rather baffling analogy about lemonade that I am yet to figure out. " I don't like people who offer me free lunch, or all-you-can-drink lemonade, because nine times out of 10 you vote for them and they give you a glass and pour a little bit in the bottom and go, 'That's all you can drink." It appears to be a comment on the welfare state and government control but from a man who would rarely encounter lemonade without a few fingers of Southern Comfort the political impact is lost.
For a man who claims most women don't have sex with him "on purpose" he seems pretty honest about his groupie habit with songs such as 'Just Nineteen' and 'Don't Speak' detailing his sexual prowess and magnitude. I have struggled with friends to find an Eagles of Death metal song it would be appropriate to play to my parents and have come to the conclusion that the sex, drugs and rock and roll obsessions of messers Hughes, Homme and Castillo are not family friendly. Trashy strip joints and dirty brothels are Hughes's home and he seems to revel in the skanky surroundings such as in 'Nasty Notion', a plea to a stripper who just ain't putting out.
Jesse Hughes as a person seems extremely excited by the fact that he is making music and people are buying it. I have to admit his guitar playing skills occasionally leave a bit to be desired but the enthusiasm and love for the music is still there. I can't get away from the overpowering magnetism that draws me to their music, despite the misogynist overtones and political disagreements, I just can't stop listening.
Other honourable mentions of music made by people I dislike include angry at everything Nick Oliveri and the horrifically homophobic Vbyz Kartel, current banned from the UK for his anti-gay lyrics.
*I will give you a prize if you can find the Simpsons reference in this
song
Written by Clementine Mary
Stafford
Formatted by Joe Thornalley
Formatted by Joe Thornalley
