These three alternative rock songs may not seem sexy at first listen, but hear us out. Alt-rock and adjacent genres are typically good at subtle sexuality, depending on who you’re listening to. Innuendos and double entendre in the lyrics, sleazy guitar, and growling vocals tend to get the point across. But the following songs are also sexy; it just might take a few listens and some thinking outside the box.
“Psychotic Girl” by The Black Keys
“Psychotic Girl” from The Black Keys’ 2008 album Attack & Release doesn’t sound like it would be sexy at all from the title alone. Or from the lyrics, actually, which center around a guy realizing he might have made a mistake by getting involved with this particular girl. He attempts to let her down easy, but instead he point-blank tells her she’s “Just a psychotic girl / And I won’t get lost in your world.”
That doesn’t sound sexy at all. But it’s the composition that turns this cautionary yet really kind of rude breakup song into a sexy, alternative-blues-rock tune. Accompanied by loping guitar and raw vocals, this goes from a weird way to tell a girl you don’t like her anymore, to a lustful tableau with a woman who maybe wants to strangle you.
“I’m Shakin’” by Jack White
Jack White covered Little Willie John’s 1960 song “I’m Shakin’” for his debut solo album, Blunderbuss, in 2013. The song has been covered numerous times, but White’s version picks up the pace a bit, creating a sense of urgency that works well with his frantic blues rock guitar style.
The lyrics are about being nervous around the object of one’s affection to the point of trembling like a chihuahua. That probably wouldn’t be very sexy on its own. But paired with the wild abandon of alt-blues-rock, it becomes way sexier and much less likely to inspire pity instead.
“Inertia Creeps” by Massive Attack
What makes Massive Attack’s “Inertia Creeps” their sex song starts with the low, intimate vocals and continues on with a beat that hits in the chest. It’s definitely more about attitude with “Inertia Creeps”. While it’s obviously a sexy track, the lyrics reveal an emptiness once the lustful veil is parted.
The song appeared on their 1998 album Mezzanine, which already took a darker turn than their previous two albums. In that way, “Inertia Creeps” embodies a gritty, almost sinister sexuality that may not be lyrically obvious at first. Because the use of inertia as a lyrical theme indicates that the song’s intimacy isn’t out of desire. It’s more out of necessity or having nothing better to do. Emotionally, the relationship is stunted. Physically, inertia keeps them moving, with neither party willing to be the one to end it.
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