I’ve always assumed that Peaches was more gimmicky provocateur than legit musician. I’ve always liked her little cameo on Chick’s on Speed’s We Don’t Play Guitars, but I’ve never given her enough thought to actually give a shit about what she does. Then, Peaches was a guest on a recent episode of the Comedy Bang Bang podcast, and she was awesome. In the interview sections she was funny, interesting and charming. And when she played a song from her latest record, Rub, I knew I had to hear the rest of what that album had to offer.
Lyrically, Peaches and Rub pretty much deliver on my preconception of the work of a gimmicky provocateur. I’m only two tracks in when the title song offers, “Whistle blow my clit… Can’t talk right now, this chick’s dick is in my mouth”. There are plenty of similar clangers dropped before and after that, and none of them surprised me. What did surprise me is was the awesome electronic beats and hip hop flow of the lyrics.
Representing the chick who does play guitar in the Chicks on Speed song, I always assumed that Peaches was some kind of punk rock infused performance artist. But three songs in, and Dick in the Air delivers another bomb of dirty, droning beats and even dirtier rhymes. Lyrically, it’s anti hip hop, as a response to the decades of songs obsessed with shaking booties and grinding humps. Musically, it uses the genre’s tricks and tropes to deliver its anti genre message.
I have never once in my life made the conscious decision to listen to any electronic dance music. What little I have heard has been inadvertent or forced on me. So I’m very aware that Peaches and Rub may not in any way be classed as EDM and that this statement might be way off the mark, but… The beats, bloops and driving energy of Pickles made me think that if this is EDM, the genre might actually have something to offer.
More spoken word over a droning, ominus backing track, Free Drink Ticket is an interesting experiment, but after the relentless drive of the first half of Rub, it’s a bit of a jarring speed bump. Rub had such a strong momentum going before this point, that I just found this song frustrating.
But it’s back to the winning formula of earlier tracks with How You Like My Cut and Viginoplasty. Which leads to what I like most about Rub, but what I could also understand other people seeing as its biggest weakness. The vast majority of Rub seems like Peaches came up with a cool, dirty beat, then figured out what in-your-face word or phrase would sound best when said over and over again against that beat. To me, that pays off pretty much every single time. So while I couldn’t argue if you told me Rub was repetitive, I see it more as setting a theme and sticking to it.
Other Opinions Are Available. What did these people have to say about Rub?
The Guardian
DIY Mag
The Upside News
Bored and Dangerous 