The King Khan & BBQ Show

The best thing about a band that classifies itself as a blend of death metal, progressive house, and Christian rap is finding out that they're fucking with you. It's a great way to endear yourself to a listener, as the King Khan & BBQ show do on their MySpace page (not that I would actually ever visit MySpace), and your affection for them will only grow when you hear their songs. Born in Montreal, Khan sounds as if he stepped out of the '60s, and he brings that great, stripped-down feel to whichever album he happens to be working on with whichever one of his projects he happens to be working on. Just released is Invisible Girl, which can sound like The Detroit Cobras on one track and Del Shannon on the next. But the sometimes cross-dressing/sometimes undressing Canadian is perhaps better known for the raunchy element injected into his live shows, which have been known to step perilously close to the banned-from-the-venue, chased-out-of-town-by-Sheriff Joe line. Not bad for Christian rap.