Kiss Or Kill Me

Michael Des Barres is in a mood for romance. The legendary rock and roll and Hollywood provocateur unleashes a seductive proposition of grandeur with ‘Kiss or Kill Me’, a rousing new single — just in time for Valentine’s Day, when emotions run high and libidos turn dangerous. ‘Kiss or Kill Me’, b/w spoken word b-side ’I Was Saved in ‘64’, is a dramatic anthem of romantic excess, a whirling dervish of sonic hedonism fueled by hyperactive strains of glam, garage rock, and proto-punk. But to Des Barres, who hosts a music history lesson each day on Little Steven’s Underground Garage, it’s all simply just rock and roll. The 26th Marquis Des Barres has been surveying the state of the world for several decades now, balancing a high-wire act of rock and roll aristocracy and Hollywood charisma that has positioned the British-born and Los Angeles-based actor and performer like few in his class. He’s seen it all; and has lived to tell the sordid tale. “All great music is politicized one way or another,” he notes. “You've come to the end of the road. And on that road, 50 percent of the globe is in shock, and the other 50 percent is loving it. It's a politicised vibe on ‘Kiss or Kill Me’, but it's really about romance -- the death of romance.” And now with the formidable “Kiss or Kill Me,” a whirling dervish of aural hedonism, he’s offered perhaps his most intriguing proposition yet. It’s doused in a double shot of rebellion from Bowie, the street-walkin’ swagger of the Stooges, and the slick sonic seduction of T.Rex. “Kiss or Kill Me” is fueled by hyperactive strains of glam, garage rock, and proto-punk, but to Michael Des Barres it’s simply rock and roll. “It’s in my blood,” he warns, “and it always has been.”