As always, Fridays mean Harmonix has announced next week’s DLC artists in Rock Band.  The first Tuesday of August will bring us a mixed singles pack, featuring 8 songs by 8 artists, many of which are new to the Rock Band platform.  Here’s the list:

• Blondie – “Rapture”
• dc Talk – “Jesus Freak”
• The Decemberists – “The Perfect Crime # 2”
• Eagles of Death Metal – “I Only Want You”
• Eels – “Saturday Morning”
• Family Force 5 – “Love Addict”
• KMFDM – “Sturm & Drang”
• La Roux – “Bulletproof”

The thing I find most exciting about this pack is that it includes another Josh Homme band, The Eagles of Death Metal.  Many of my frequent readers know my interest in both Josh Homme and Dave Grohl, because they are featured in so many different bands that also have music in the game.  Not only are they the most popular artists in the game (purely by gross song count), the two have played together in two different bands.  Here is a diagram I made showing the six-degrees of separation of Dave and Josh.  They are both extremely talented, each well versed in guitar, bass, drums, and are both skilled vocalists.

As you may be able to tell, we are only missing songs from Kyuss, The Desert Sessions and Scream.  Each of those bands released multiple records during their tenure, so there is always a chance to see some of the pair’s earlier music in the game.  The Desert Sessions is not technically a band, Josh has described it as a ‘collective’ because of the numerous members that have recorded with the group.  Both artists have been or are currently members of Them Crooked Vultures and Queens of the Stone Age, and both of those bands are featured in the upcoming Rock Band 3.    Let’s not forget that Tenacious D, Foo Fighters and Nirvana have appeared in several previous Rock Band games, and I wouldn’t rule out a return from either band until we know the full setlist.

The song “I Only Want You” is one of the Eagles’ more well known songs, and features Josh Homme on drums and the falsetto-screaming vocals of Jesse Hughes.   Check out the video here.  Josh had this to say recently of their arrangement:

“I just sit behind the drums and play rock and roll, which is a great change of pace for me. J. Devil writes everything, every lyric and riff, and he’s a fantastic songwriter. He and I go through and arrange them, and I lay down harmonies, but it’s really his thing. It’s the antithesis of the bloated rock-attitude bullshit I’ve had to deal with recently”

The tracks are priced at the usual 160 points each and will be available on Tuesday, August 3, 2010.