Steel Panther isn’t just about sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. The comedic hard rockers are into Christmas, too.
The Los Angeles quartet is showing its love for the Yule with “The Stocking Song,” a new track recorded during the group’s recent tour opening for Judas Priest, which includes a kazoo hook from “Deck the Halls” played by bassist Lexxi Foxx, and reverent holiday salutations such as “Candy canes are meant for sucking/So don’t you think about trying to chew” and “I’m gonna stuff your stocking this year/Gonna fill it up nice and tight/Gonna feel so good when I slide my gifts into it tonight” — as well as references to the Kama Sutra and Double-D batteries (use your imagination).
Listen to “The Stocking Song” exclusively at Billboard.com below:
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“We bring happiness to millions of people around the world. Why not during the holidays?” frontman Michael Starr tells Billboard. “We love to spread the love. The holiday season is the best time to pick up strippers at a strip club. The ones that are working on Christmas Eve usually have no family and are really lonely. So it’s super easy to take them home and do some kissin’ underneath the camel toe.”
Adds bassist Foxx, “I like the holidays — I like to call them the highlidays. I’m definitely a Christmas kind of guy. For me, it snows all year ’round, if you know what I’m talking about. There’s always a bunch of snow, so I’m down with the holiday season. So when you listen to the song it’s about all kinds of cool presents you can get your chicks, or a chick, all kinds of bits and stocking stuffers that only we would think of.”
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Foxx says “The Stocking Song,” available at digital outlets only, was suggested by guitarist Satchel during the Priest tour, which led to a full-band brainstorming session. “We all sat around thinking about a bunch of bitchin’ things we can say about stocking some chick’s stocking,” the bassist recalls. “It was a lot of fun, actually — we took a couple hits of weed and we all got real focused that way and it turned out really cool.” The recording, meanwhile, was done in a backstage bathroom, where Foxx says “the acoustics were great,” and finished in a hotel room.
And the kazoos? “We decided we wanted to put kazoos on the song, so we had a runner go out and get us a couple kazoos,” Starr says. “We decided the one that sounded better was the one I used, so I got to do lead kazoo, all by myself. It’ll be fun when we get to do it live.”
Steel Panther has plenty of live work coming up. The group, promoting its fourth album, All You Can Eat, kicks off a North American tour on Dec. 10 in Charlotte, N.C., and will ring in the New Year in Silver Spring, Md. A European tour that begins March 7 in the U.K. will include a couple of dates with Black Veil Brides and a headlining date at the SSE (Wembley) Arena in London.
“Every time we got to either a new territory or somewhere we’ve been before, it only gets better,” Starr says. “People are really taking us seriously, although they know it’s going to be a fun night. Some of the songs might be a bit harsh, but I think people take them the right way and know they’re gonna have fun with Steel Panther. They just love hearing the songs and love what we do, which is really all we want.”