LA’s Punk Polymath Dagger Polyester Explores Money, Fame, and the Death Of Lana Clarkson In Rousing New Track “She Kissed The Gun”

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June 6, 2025 - Today, rising LA-based punk provocateur Dagger Polyester has unveiled their latest single “She Kissed The Gun” - a rollicking exploration of capitalism and the fatalistic nature of fame. Produced by Chris Robinson of The Black Crowes, the new track will appear on Polyester’s debut LP Perversion For Profit that’s set for release on August 1. 

Equal parts Patti Smith, Talking Heads, and Thin White Duke-era Bowie, “She Kissed The Gun” opens with an earworm bass lick atop chugging power chords as Polyester uses the brutal 2003 murder of Lana Clarkson as a warning against the lure of fame and the enduring dangers of capitalism: “And I could hear what they thought / It’s a twisted evil plot / And they’re gonna put me away / Till I lay down and rot / She kissed the gun now she’s in Hollywood Forever”. The track epitomizes the theatrical defiance and subtlety satirical tone of Polyester’s writing, and serves as a window into the rebellious spirit and cultural commentary of Perversion For Profit as a whole. 

Speaking about the new track, Dagger Polyester noted: “She Kissed the Gun is based on the tragic murder of Lana Clarkson, who is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. In the video, we explored themes of fantasy and obsession, using artificial looking sets to portray both deception and a state of a psychosis. On my upcoming album, Perversion for Profit, I'm exploring and dissecting these same themes through many different lenses.”

“She Kissed The Gun” is accompanied by a stirring video co-directed and conceived by Polyester and their longtime friend and collaborator Sammy Lamb. With a goal to reinvent the villainized transgender archetype often found in cinema (think Buffalo Bill in Silence Of The Lambs or Z-Man/Superwoman in Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls) through a queer-positive lens, the duo crafted a campy, almost vaudevillian punk ecosystem that pays tribute to James Bidgood’s Pink Narcissus and Wakefield Poole’s Bijou as well as Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. 

Watch the video for “She Kissed The Gun” HERE   

Exhilarating, bold, and devilishly sardonic, Perversion For Profit is an ambitious first statement from one of LA’s most innovative rising talents. A quirky, genre-fluid rebuttal against the escalating commercialization of queerness and the ever-growing threat of nationalized fascism, the LP’s nine tracks draw influence from artists as diverse as Roxy Music, Suicide, The Walker Brothers, P-Funk, Van Dyke Parks, and Talking Heads. 

Tracked at the legendary Sunset Sound (birthplace of records by Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, and others) with The Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson manning the boards, Polyester’s sneering vocal delivery of their biting social satire is effectively captured atop Robinson’s gutsy production. While sonically inspired by the sounds of the past, Perversion For Profit offers listeners the opportunity to gaze into the future, and it’s a pleasure to observe one of rock’s bold new talents spread their wings in real-time. 

Vinyl and CDs can be purchased at: https://daggerpolyester.com/

‘Perversion For Profit’ album cover

‘Perversion For Profit’ Tracklist: “We Stand On The Shoulder Of Giants” “Conversion Therapy” “Father Panik” “Spin” “Affection” “She Kissed The Gun” “Cheap” “The Tower” “Will”   ABOUT DAGGER POLYESTER Pull back the red velvet curtain of the LA underground and you’ll find Dagger Polyester—a force of nature fusing punk, glam, and art rock into something fiercely original. Their music channels subversive authenticity and theatrical defiance, drawing on influences from Roxy Music to Kenneth Anger. With sharp, satirical songwriting and a sound that embraces contradiction, Dagger confronts queerness, masculinity, and identity with style and wit. Their electrifying live performances—part punk riot, part glam opera—have landed them on stages with Yves Tumor, Weyes Blood, and The Lemon Twigs. Produced by Chris Robinson (The Black Crowes), Dagger’s debut full-length arrives in 2025, ready to upend everything you thought you knew about rock.

DAGGER POLYESTER ON SOCIALS WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE     For more information on Dagger Polyester, contact Josh Page and Henry Thomas at Shore Fire Media.