Today, DCist would like to introduce Three Stars, a feature in which three local music acts are viewed, reviewed, and interviewed. The feature will run every few weeks, for three days, until we run out of notable local musicians. Today Catherine Andrews discusses Death By Sexy. This version of Three Stars will continue Wednesday with Barakus and Thursday with Full Minute of Mercury.

Death By Sexy
Oh lordy, we thought, as a man leapt up onstage before the Death By Sexy concert at the Black Cat backstage two Sundays ago, intent on introducing the band with southern-revivalist lingo and attempts to sound like a fire-and-brimstone preacher. Behind him, the members of the band set up their instruments, wrapping extravagant feather boas around their necks and adjusting their skinny jeans, tight t-shirts and sunglasses. We worried for a minute that the concert was going to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors – after all, so many bands these days concentrate more on creating a specific image than on actually putting out good music.

We shouldn’t have been concerned. Death By Sexy, a two-member act, started off the night right with an interesting mix of classic, dirty garage music and glam-rock. The drummer set a blistering, frenetic pace, while J.R., the lead singer, had enough charisma to make us smile. Though some of the songs were repetitive, and the band’s sound could have benefited from another guitar player or keyboardist, the duo seemed to be genuinely enjoying rockin’ out on stage, and their enthusiasm was infectious. Death By Sexy reminded us that it’s actually a good thing to have a silly, fun time at a show and that neither the band or the audience should always take themselves so seriously. God bless ’em for it.