Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox cover Metallica’s Seek & Destroy on guitar… and squeaky Santa toys

Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox’s Sunday Lunch YouTube series has continued to go from strength to strength throughout 2022. However, it arguably reached its artistic peak this past week, as the duo covered Metallica’s Seek & Destroy, through the medium of guitar and squeaky chew toys.

In the clip, Fripp handles a combination of Kirk Hammett’s jarring opening lick and James Hetfield’s immediate, chunky thrash riff via his Fernandes electric guitar. Willcox then employs chew toys to surprisingly musical (but-OK-not-that-brilliant) effect in a sort of descending note across the chorus. It’s a bit like string-bending at points, but also a lot more painful and irritating. 

Of course, the iconoclasm is largely the point. Fripp has always delighted in keeping the listener guessing and Willcox, for all her pop hits, emerged in the slash and burn of ’70s Britain’s punk scene. Notably, with a role in Derek Jarman’s cult 1978 film Jubilee, which saw her appear alongside Jordan, The Slits, Adam Ant and Siouxsie and the Banshees.

The pair’s decision to return to Metallica is a nice nod to one of their most popular Sunday Lunch clips: a cover of Metallica’s Enter Sandman, in which Willcox performed vocals from an exercise bike. They later took on another Metallica hit, Master of Puppets and Willcox took the title to heart, opting to string up Fripp while performing to a backing track.

The series has been running for over two years now, having initially started in 2020 – partly to cheer everyone up, but also as a way for Willcox to distract Fripp from the loss of touring and performing brought about by the pandemic. 

The love for thrash icons is clearly still strong, though. Perhaps it’s time Metallica dropped in for lunch?