Wednesday on the bus to Fuji Rock, a discussion broke out among the writers as to whether UK power rock band Gentleman’s Pistols emulation of 70s hard rock groups like Black Sabbath — especially Sabbath! — and also Led Zepplin… well, maybe I should phrase the question like this: Are these guys serious, or are they being ironical?

On the bus, we declared (wrongly) that they must have evolved out of a Black Sabbath cover band, that all bands with guns in the band name were “cock rock” bands, and that it was impossible to do this in 2013 without being tongue in cheek, as it would also to un-ironically write songs that were so almost nostalgically misogynistic. How the hell are you supposed to think about a band called Gentelman’s Pistols without imaging four dudes with their dicks in their hands? And what the hell were we supposed to make of songs with titles like “Lethal Woman”, “Some Girls Just Don’t Know What’s Good For Them”, and “The Ravasher” — all of these on an album titled “At Her Majesty’s Pleasure.” At this FRF set, they also sang a new song “Widowmaker” and their early hit “The Lady” has the lyrics “she needs your life / and she needs your demons”. If all this sits squarely in the category of things-you-sorta-love-but-are-still-cheesy-as-fuck, yet they are also not far removed from Led Zepplin tunes like “Heartbreaker”, “Livin’, Lovin’ Maid (She’s Just A Woman)” or “Black Dog” (Hey, hey mama say the way you move, gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove…). And seriously, in the zone of rock lyrics powered by teenage sexual fantasies, was Black Sabbath or Motorhead any better? Yet those bands were not ironic, because they invented their own genre.

Before I get to ponderous, I should say that as a live show, Gentleman’s Pistols fuckin rocked. It is riff-driven music, hard rock basslines, hard rock chord progressions, hard rock riffs and feverish high register vocals that sit somewhere between Robert Plant and Ozzy Osbourne. So there is no mistaking the real, physical intensity of the music. Much of it feels like familiar, but if the sound is a throwback, it is also a reinvention and not so different from the way the Black Keys, Band of Skulls and other groups are reenlivining old rock styles. They rocked with intensity, with long hair and beards, with smiles on their faces, and with savvy banter (“Are we greasy enough for you?”) Despite my expectations, I could not help agreeing that they are very, very good.

But still, I cannot help wondering: If you get plastic surgery to look like your favorite celebrity, grow your hair to the same length, get all his tattoos, and live the same lifestyle, one day you will wake up and realize that is the real you. Maybe that is the current stage of postmodernity? Or maybe I shouldn’t ask such stupid questions.