live music

Editor's rating

Venue: Brixton Academy, London
Gig played: 24 June 2009

What kind of death metal band comes on to Kool & The Gang's 'Ladies Night'? The answer, of course, is none. Instead, Eagles of Death Metal are a band that despite their daft moniker - and having a lot of fun - demand to be taken seriously.

Originally a side project for Queens of the Stone Age chief Josh Homme, the live EoDM are the sole responsibility of the extravagantly moustached Jesse Hughes. A former schoolmate of Homme, he reaffirms his chum's long-stated desire to create music that makes girls dance. When Hughes asks the ladies in the house to scream, it's clear he's succeeded.

Hughes takes a while to get to this point, mind, presumably twitchy because he is playing EoDM's biggest headline show yet. Instead, the frontman fusses over the front row and shakes off nervous energy by strutting around the stage. But it's worth the wait when his motley crew finally kick in. With Hughes testifying and cooing over a glam racket, what you get is a looser take on The Hives' back-to-basics rock'n'roll.

With shades and Flying V guitar in place, they toughen the Rolling Stones' blues pastiche and smooth the New York Dolls' trash punk, with Hughes seducing 19-year-olds over the top. Rather than off-putting lechery, his exuberance seems like innocent fun. A late-comer to fame, he is a second chancer in the mould of The Hold Steady, albeit less serious.

Having said that, EoDM are no joke, as they prove with numbers from third album Heart On. They smoothly change gear for smouldering ballad 'Now I'm A Fool', while the angry-hornet buzz of 'Anything 'Cept The Truth' sees them encroach on the sinister territory Homme usually occupies. But the truth is that Eagles of Death Metal have every right to be there.

Chris Mugan