Welcome back to The Five Spot, another new Rocks Off recurrent. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to [email protected].
It's safe to say that, as of right now, Jim James is cock-diesel. Not only is he lead singer of Kentucky-based Rolling Stone darlings My Morning Jacket, but he's also recently traded in his lumberjackish beard for something immeasureably more classy: the mustache. He even went so far as to give a surprisingly humorous interview to the fine folks over at the American Mustache Institute.
Our verdict for James's decision to ditch the full face-fur in favor of a dirt rascal: Friggin' Brilliant. Here are five of our other favorite musicians who also decided to etch their name in the annals of history using a mustache as the pen:
Nick Cave (Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds)
Little known fact: The word "Mustache" is always supposed to be capitalized. So is the word "Jesus." And if you'll notice, what is it that Mr. Cave is resting his arms on the picture? That's probably not a coincidence.
Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan)
The first time we saw Jeff Baxter's mustache we literally started to cry. It was like looking into the sun, if the sun were a super sweet mustache.
Freddie Mercury (Queen)
Yeah, Mercury's solo work was, for the most part, terrible, but c'mon; look at him. He's majestic. He looks like a police officer who just got off work and needs a back rub. Go ahead, rub his back.
Jim Croce
It took us like, three weeks to convince our roommate that the guy that showed up at Luke Wilson's house in the beginning of Old School and says, "Uh, I'm here for the gangbang," was not Jim Croce. Look it up, you'll see what we're talking about.
Rivers Cuomo (Weezer)
What's dope about this picture is that Cuomo's hair seems to hang over the crown of his forehead like a slightly bigger yet equally cool mustache. That's two mustaches on one head and that type of forethought, my friends, is why he is famous and you are not. - Shea Serrano
