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If Steven Tyler’s recent readmittance to rehab for a “foot injury” tells us anything, it’s that rock ’n’ roll will never tire of lusty hedonism. Take New York City buzz band Semi Precious Weapons, a band so filthy and gorgeous as to make Iggy Pop blush.
In the video for the glam garage track Magnetic Baby, lead singer Justin Tranter, a 6-footer with a mop of peroxided hair and a kohl eyeliner addiction, screams, “It’s not my fault I look better in a party dress – I’ve been magnetic since I was a baby,” while a collection of female clones lay their hands all over his naked torso. Even he couldn’t have expected this animal magnetism to stretch to supermodels across the Atlantic. Kate Moss rocked up to a boutique London show earlier this year and joined the spandex-clad lead singer onstage for a dance.
Supermodel approval aside, world dominance doesn’t appear to be SPW’s goal. (Nor is selling records, apparently. The band funded its cloyingly catchy debut, We Love You, with money from Tranter’s jewellery line.) Reclaiming swear words and injecting humour and killer chords into rock’s flat landscape seem to be the more likely objective. Now, everyone scream, “Kunt!” At the Silver Dollar (June 12, 1 am), and Velvet Underground (June 13, 10 pm).
