Review Summary: "It rocks like f**k. What can I tell you?"
I was wanting a new QOTSA album, like their self titled debut, and what does Homme, do? He forms a super group with a few of my favorite names in music. Pfft.
Now about the band itself... I want to think this is a new band, but it sounds a lot like Queens of the Stone Age, and John Paul Jones sounds a lot like John Paul Jones playing Bass. David Grohl drums alot like David Grohl. Theres no way around it, they are very straightforward.
"It sounds like me playing bass and Dave playing drums and Josh singing and playing guitar." -JPJ
Now about the album. It sounds like QOTSA. I cant emphasize this enough. It's like Rated R mixed with Lullabies to Paralyze. It does have its deviations, with tracks like "Reptile" and "New Fang", which are a blessing for Rock and Roll in general - really heavy, really smooth, like a walrus. But Homme really brings the danceability to the music with songs like "Mind Eraser". It really pounds a beat into your head.
"Law abiding, dick riding, fun police - leave us alone!"
As a side note Homme's sleazy vocals with Grohls energetic ones sounds surprisingly nice. It's similar to Aquaman and Batman, the way they work together (I'm not saying which one is Aquaman I'll sound biased). Maybe it's just because I love their vocals, or maybe balance is a wonderful thing. Something does sound a bit OFF though, I'm not sure what.
"Interlude with Ludes", "No one loves me and neither do I", and "Spinning in Daffodils" are the songs that sound strikingly like trippy QOTSA jams. Interlude with Ludes is a nice break from the otherwise heavy album and it has a very trippy and paranoid feel. David Grohl pretty much just plays with sticks in these... no peeps from Grohl, that would sound weird anyway, like Ian MacKaye covering Beautiful People, but I digress.
To be honest I was very excited for this album to come out, and when I finally... acquired it, I was ecstatic. This lasted for a few hours, then I was just happy with it, not overjoyed. It's not dissapointing, there are no horrible bombs on this record, but it falls short of classic, and I'm fine with that. If they continue with what they're doing though I'm pretty sure they'll pull a silver dollar out of their collective a**'s though (Their collective a** being TCV to clarify).
I can't think of anything else that has such a (not going to say PURE) solid Rock & Roll sound lately, there are no gimmicks, just three guys playing what they want to play.
