Advertisement
Christina Aguilera loves her, Britney Spears wants to write with her and Pink just recorded a track with her: Electro-punk artist Peaches is unquestionably the bad girl that wannabe bad girls wanna be. Unlike the musicians that revere her, however, the cover of Peaches' latest CD reveals no lingerie, cleavage or barely covered booty, just a shot of the singer with an undead look in her eyes and a thick Amish beard sprouting from her chin.
If that artwork doesn't alienate Middle America, the title definitely will. Fatherfucker, Peaches' second album, will be banned from a mainstream retailer near you on September 23rd.
"Palatable is not my way," Peaches says. "I'm not one to shy from the controversies of language. You stub your toe and say 'motherfucker,' so why not make it equal? Besides, I like to invent new cliches . . . you know, like 'diddle my skittle,' or 'sweet buns, let me be your gun.'"
The Canadian-born singer has a deep admiration for other female rockers who have challenged society's perception of acceptable. "Patti Smith's Horses artwork was really controversial," she recalls. "They didn't want to print that album cover because they didn't think she was 'womanly' enough. Now it's so classic! And Chrissie Hynde? Such a cool attitude! The opening song on the Pretenders' first album was about a prostitute. She sings, 'Not me baby, I'm too precious, fuck off!'"
Fatherfucker gives explicit props to two more artists who have been influential in Peaches' career. The album kicks off with a sample of Joan Jett singing, "I don't give a damn about my bad reputation." Then Peaches primal-screams back, "I don't give a fuuuuck!"
"I didn't even mean to put it on the album," Peaches says. "I just tried it once and thought it was hilarious. You can feel my vocal chords ripping."
Iggy Pop shows up in the flesh on "Kick It.'" "He said, 'I trust you to do everything, just write it and I'll sing,'" she says. "It was amazing! I was totally transported into rock & roll heaven."
The success of her debut, The Teaches of Peaches, brought her many fans within the industry. She was invited to be the opening act for everyone from Bjork to Queens of the Stone Age to John Waters. Britney Spears asked her to do some songwriting for her next record, but Peaches passed on the offer that many would have killed for. "I thought, 'What can I write for her that they're not gonna water down?'" she explains.
But when Pink solicited the singer last month to contribute an intro rap to a song called "Oh My God" on her next record, Peaches jumped at the chance. "She said, 'This needs you on it!'" Peaches says. "I was psyched."
Even with commercially successful fans, Peaches seems to be doing everything she can to sabotage her own potential pop success. The Teaches of Peaches featured a less-than-subtle close-up of her bikini line on the cover, and her decision to include "fuck" in her new title could decide the fate of record sales before disc has even hit the shelves.
"It is so sad that a kid in Nebraska can only go to Wal-Mart or Best Buy," Peaches says. "Small towns just get these corporations. I don't want to be a part of all that. They already know my name, so they'll be looking for trouble. But I'm not gonna give into it!"
DENISE SHEPARD
(August 29, 2003)