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Battle of the (celebrity) bands
Juliette Lewis / Buffy's Spike / Jared Leto / Johnny Depp / River Phoenix / Kiefer Sutherland / Russell Crowe / Jack Black / Jennifer Lopez / Kylie Minogue
Who will win the Battle of the Celebrity Bands? YOU DECIDE.
There are so many actors and actresses out there moonlighting as rock and pop stars. From Buffy's Spike to School of Rock's Jack Black, listen to the music and decide for yourself... who will win the battle of the celebrity bands?
Juliette Lewis: Juliette and the Licks
Artist: Juliette Lewis is the best dancer evah. She usually plays wild young girls from the Deep South who won't let anyone tell them what to do (Natural Born Killers, Kalifornia, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Cape Fear, From Dusk till Dawn).
Band kudos: Kerrang! has recently adopted Juliette Lewis and said she is the real deal, a genuine rock chick, putting everything she's got into the band rather than just going on a little ego-trip to make some more fans and some more bucks (hello, J-Lo? You listening?). David Grohl (Foo Fighters) also works with the band, which is very rock.)
Sound: Indie rock
Listen to mp3: www.myspace.com/julietteandthelicks
Sample lyrics:
"Selling skin, death, tits, mutilation..."
Artist quote:
"My intention is for our music to serve as an antidote to serve as an antidote to self-doubt, apathy and fear, which is rampant in our society right now."
Band website: http://www.julietteandthelicks.com
Mooky Poll: Vote for this artist to win Battle of the Celebrity Bands!
James Marsters (Spike from Buffy TVS and Angel): Ghost of the Robot
Artist: Anyone who's got a pulse (and a few romantic goths who wish they didn't) fancies Spike in Buffy, so you probably know who James Marsters is.
Band kudos: Ghost of the Robot only has about 500 friends on myspace. So if you add them to your friend list you will be in the top running to be his real-life friend/groupie and kiss him and everything! Race you there! There's only one catch - James Marsters isn't in Ghost of the Robot anymore. He was in it for about two years.
Sound: Kind of fun summery surfpunky indie rock
Listen to mp3: www.myspace.com/ghostoftherobot1
Sample lyrics:
"When our lips first met, you didn’t get the hang of it / I bet that you still kiss like me"
Artist quote:
"Spike is a sociopath. Spike has fun hurting people. Spike is a man without guilt. Spike is a man for whom the world has been opened..."
Band website: http://www.ghostoftherobot.com
Mooky Poll: Vote for this artist to win Battle of the Celebrity Bands!
Jared Leto: 30 Seconds to Mars
Artist: Jared Leto has acted his socks off in Requiem for a Dream, Lord of War and other good stuff.
Band kudos: 30 Seconds to Mars are travelling over the US doing about 9 dates a month at the moment, so bearing in mind that Jared Leto is famous and all, they're willing to put the time in and get dirty and grimy and on the road. Jared can sing, too - he's got leather lungs and he really belts out the songs.
Sound: Indie rock (metal-flavoured emotional sound with coneptual lyrics. Think 'Tool'
Listen to mp3: www.myspace.com/thirtysecondstomars
Sample lyrics:
"Bury me, bury me, I am finished with you / what if I wanted to fight for the rest of my life?"
Artist quote:
"I stole a lot when I was a kid, but I wouldn't steal one candy; I'd take the whole carton. I also used to like to break into other people's houses and sit in their rooms. I found it very comforting to be in someone's empty house."
"This album is about an emotional journey... brutal honesty, growth, change"
Band website: http://www.thirtysecondstomars.com
Mooky Poll: Vote for this artist to win Battle of the Celebrity Bands!
Russell Crowe: The Ordinary Fear of God
Artist: Russell Crowe is famous for getting drunk and starting fights, but he is also famous for starring in things like Gladiator.
Band kudos: Ego alert! The myspace site and band site for The Ordinary Fear of Godhave Russell Crowe's name all over them. He is not the band, the band is him, and he doesn't want you to forget it! Crowe's voice is pretty good but he works it too hard, giving it almost too much flavour, and 'Testify' feels like a whole load of really talented session musicians pulling together a song that is too well-produced to be convincingly edge or soulful. Sorry, Crowe.
Sound: Bluesy rock (think rocking beats with old negro spirtual lyrics and vibe)
Listen to mp3: www.myspace.com/russellcroweandtheordinaryfearofgod
Sample lyrics:
"I take my sodden walk to jesus, all piety and grace / The guards release my shackles, they cannot read my face."
Artist quote:
"I'm destined to be attracted to those I cannot defeat."
Band website: http://croweband.blogspot.com/
Mooky Poll: Vote for this artist to win Battle of the Celebrity Bands!
Jack Black: Tenacious D
Artist: Star of 'School of Rock' and 'King Kong'. Very funny guy. Seems to burn with individual energy.
Band kudos: Tenacious D started out in 1994 doing little gigs at open mic nights in little coffee shops and bars which is the way it should be. Jack Black seems to take his film work and band equally seriously, if we can apply 'serious' to Jack Black. David Grohl (Foo Fighters) stars in one of their music videos, this is his second mention so clearly he is totally hanging out with music celebrities!
Sound: Rock, with clever funny lyrics. Quite often mimics styles of other music to make a point.
Listen to mp3: www.myspace.com/tenaciousd
Sample lyrics:
"This is not The Greatest Song in the World, no / This is just a tribute / Couldn't remember The Greatest Song in the World, no, no / It was the best muthafuckin' song / the greatest song in the world."
Artist quote:
"Luckily, my parents never put pressure on me to do that because I just didn't have the smarts for it. All my brain powers are just rock. They're rocket science; I'm just rock science. Rock your fucking socks!"
Band website: www.tenaciousd.com, www.caaien.com/jackblack/
Mooky Poll: Vote for this artist to win Battle of the Celebrity Bands!
River Phoenix: Aleka's Attic
Artist: River Phoenix died young of a drugs overdose. Brother of Juaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, Walk the Line - a talented family!), River starred in Stand by Me and a bunch of other good stuff. Everyone agreed he was alternative and hot. Since Aleka's Attic has a myspace presence as a fansite, we're including him to pay tribute to his memory.
Band kudos: High. Aleka's Attic is folksy and surreal and he clearly made the sounds he loved not the sounds he thought would sell.
Sound: Psychedelic folk rock moody strangeness
Listen to mp3: www.myspace.com/unofficialalekasattic
Sample lyrics:
"Hear say / hear now / I've heard you've found / There's more across the way"
Artist quote:
"I try to lie as much as I can when I'm interviewed. It's reverse psychology. I figure if you lie, they'll print the truth. "
"Everything is ironic to me. There are moments I find hysterical, but I'm probably the only one who would find that, except for a few people."
Band website: www.myspace.com/unofficialalekasattic
Mooky Poll: Vote for this artist to win Battle of the Celebrity Bands!
Johnny Depp: P, The Kids
Artist: Johnny Depp? Who's he? Oh, the actor and humanitarian beloved by all. With the cheekbones. We remember now.
Band kudos: The Kids were set up before Depp's first film, 'Nightmare on Elm Street', and after his success in that, The Kids never regained momentum. He set up another band called 'P' but alas, it is also no more. Johnny Depp has enough talent to drown the Titanic but marriage, fatherhood and a film star career - and helping out with humanitarian causes - are probably enough to keep him busy for the moment.
Sound: We couldn't find any examples. If you can find mp3s of his stuff, link to it on the mookychick messageboard so we can all enjoy it
Artist quote:
"I don't pretend to be captain weird. I just do what I do."
Band website: www.johnnydeppfan.com/kids/thekids.htm
Mooky Poll: Vote for this artist to win Battle of the Celebrity Bands!
Kiefer Sutherland: Ironworks
Artist: Star of 24 and, more importantly, Lost Boys and Flatliners and Dark City and Stand By Me.
Band kudos: Kiefer Sutherland loves playing music and collects Gibson guitars. He's not in a band! But he is a band mogul and record producer, and co-founder of Ironworks Studio! He's currently signed up Rocco deLuca who does bluesy-rocky stuff.
Artist quote:
"I don't play in a band, and I didn't build the studio so I could make a vanity record. It was really to start a label to help young artists that might not be able to find their way in what is becoming a very shrinking corporate music industry."
Band website: www.ironworksmusic.com/artists.html
Mooky Poll: Vote for this artist to win Battle of the Celebrity Bands!
Kylie Minogue
Artist: Toothy teenager who everyone fell in love with as the girl-next-door in terrible yet addictive Australian soap, Neighbours. After being managed and manipulated by evil UK pop tycoons she was rescued first by Nick Cave, who gave her indie credibility, then by whoever it is who writes all her songs and makes her an airbrush-perfect pop princess loved by gay guys everywhere.
Band kudos: The whole point of Kylie was that she had no kudos. That's why people fell in love with her, she was funny and it was okay to like her ironically. Then she made some good songs and looked pretty in lots of photos in lots of magazines. However, there are some major indie-cool stories about Kylie. One is that she was high on ecstasy with Michael Hutchence out of INXS in the middle of the outback in Australie. She bent down to sniff a flower and Michael's friend shot it from right under her face. Little Kylie has a dark side, for sure.
Sound: Pure mainstream pop, nowadays a bit dancey, with a nice Nick Cave indie ballad thrown in for good measure
Listen to mp3: www.kylie.com
Sample lyrics:
"Rain falling down / Another minute passes by / I wait for you / But this time I won't cry"
Artist quote:
"Gay icons usually have some tragedy in their lives, but I've only had tragic haircuts and outfits." (Not true - she had to deal with cancer)
"I didn't want to fizzle out. I had to keep going, like a little Shetland pony. If I stopped making records or performing, I'd probably still be famous for a while being me. But I'd rather have something to show for myself."
Band website: www.kylie.co.uk
Mooky Poll: Vote for this artist to win Battle of the Celebrity Bands!
Jennifer Lopez: J-Lo
Artist: Once, in a fairytale land a long time ago, Jennifer Lopez was a really cool actress when she still had dark skin and dark hair. She made the surreal, twisted and amazing film 'U-Turn', for instance. Then she started having an RnB career and started making appalling films like The Cell (okay, it wasn't that bad. But 'Maid in Manhattan' proves our point). Oh, and then she started selling perfume. Even if La Lopez feels she's done a lot for Mexican self-esteem, we feel she is a massive sell-out who had a chance to be someone interesting and blew it big-time. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, missy Lopez! Come back when you're not pretending to be dull, white and blonde...
Band kudos: Who cares? She seems to be able to juggle a film and music career and is obviously a talented lady, her brand of RnB stands up well in its genre but she's had corrective surgery on her bottom and we think the surgeons slipped a bit and removed her soul as well.
Sound: Ass-jiggling RnB.
Artist quote:
"Men really disgust me if they don't have a nice smile, nice lips and nice teeth...They have too many disgusting habits - like scratching themselves all the time. And it's really weird how guys think that passing gas is the funniest thing in the world. They love to do that thing in front of girls and laugh about it."
Band website: Jennifer Lopez is a Beautiful Atrocity
Mooky Poll: Vote for this artist to win Battle of the Celebrity Bands!
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