|
I first encountered Peaches when she opened for an Elastica concert
in the fall of 2000, the year The Teaches of Peaches was
released on Kitty-Yo. Her sometime partner in X-rated revelry,
Gonzales, was along for the ride, and the stereo system was turned to
13. I literally felt ill from the bass pounding through my body, and
neither "perplexed" nor "confused" would be a strong enough word to
describe my reaction to Peaches' show. By the end, half the crowd was
heckling her, and the other half was cheering her (and her
leather-panties strip show) on.
Peaches was never really understood in her home of Toronto, Canada.
Sick of playing to audiences of 20 people, she ran off to Germany,
found immense success in Europe, and then, amusingly enough, truly
started to infiltrate North America. It might have had something to
do with the fact that selections from Teaches became the
soundtrack du jour for European fashion shows.
But catwalks aside, the real treat of Peaches' music is when you
catch her and her entourage sporting strap-on neon pink dildos,
gargling fake blood, ripping off costumes of every kind, and
duct-taping each other up on stage. Teaches is the next best
thing to that, and perhaps even better if you've got someone to share
this unabashed smut soundtrack with in the privacy of your own home.
On "AA XXX" Peaches quietly spits out, "Make sure you can hear me
before you speak up. Then, motherfuckers, step up." The beats of her
Roland 505 cut in, and she growls like a predator. It's an anthem for
girls who don't like anthems: "Only double A, thinkin' triple X."
She somehow manages to be coy and nonchalant at the same time when
she sings, "You like it when I like you less/ No caress, just
undress/ You like it when we play hardcore/ The panty war/ Then you
get pussy galore" ("Hot Rod"). What I like most about Peaches is
that you can read almost anything you want into her music —
empowerment of women or just an incitement to dance and fuck all
night. Whatever it might be to however many people, it's still an
extreme pleasure to listen to The Teaches of Peaches.
|
