"We’re like Disneyland, only dirtier."

At Placebo’s recent Portland show, the fans in the pit undulate to the music and sing along, even though Black Market Music has only been released in the States one week before. Lanky Olsdal cavorts around the stage, appearing to genuinely have fun. Gyrating suggestively at the front of the stage for the fans, he leers goofily and rolls his eyes. Between songs, Olsdal, the most reticent of the band members off the stage, grabs a digital camera off the drum platform and snaps photos of the audience to show them to Molko, who nods appreciatively before going into the next number. There is a certain tongue-in-cheek quality to their performance that suggests they’re not taking any of this – or even themselves – too seriously anymore.

It may be contrary to the band's image, but their sense of humor extends to their touring life and their musical influences "We definitely don’t just listen to guitar rock all the time. We listen to dance music most of the time when we’re on tour." Hewitt laughs again. "We like to get funky, we like to party and shake our asses."

His words come a little more carefully when we start to talk about other aspects of current pop music, however. It seems the new, improved Placebo doesn’t go off on other bands to the press the way they once did. But some bands can still get it with both barrels from Hewitt, who has definite opinions about some of his contemporaries. "I’m not a music snob… each to their own, you know? [But] there are some big global bands like Limp Bizkit, and it’s just this kind of corporate, marketed rock. I just don’t believe Fred’s got any soul."

He stops, then continues. "And I’m a massive fan of hip-hop – hip-hop with a message – but gangsta rap is just so Neanderthal, you know? It’s just so negative, homophobic – they’re just such assholes. It’s all about getting all the money, and about bitches and whores. I just can’t stand it.

"We are against any form of prejudice whatsoever," he says firmly. "That is just not something that we stand for."

For Placebo, the fun is in being sexy without being sexist. "We’re like Disneyland, only dirtier."

* * * * *

Although Placebo traveled the globe several times over, energizing audiences with those tunes about lust and sex, they brought back more than just hangovers and overworked libidos. They came home with a sense of a world that was not entirely just and not entirely interested in the sex lives of rock and roll stars.

When they sat down to record Black Market Music, Hewitt, Molko, and Olsdal had a few new things to write about. The youthful defiance, sexual energy, and biting edge are still evident on the resulting album, but their energies seem to be focused on a new kind of outrage.

 

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