BLOGS

I've heard a lot of talk that we shouldn't take Them Crooked Vultures seriously. Just another supergroup jumping on the bandwagon, they say. Supposedly even the band members don't take it seriously, it's just about having a great time playing together, they say. Those two things may more or less contain some truth, but the music this band has made is real and just as amazing as someone would expect from such immense industry talents as drummer Dave Grohl, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones and vocalist/guitarist Josh Homme.

While it may seem I'm biased, being a devoted fan of all three players, I'll say this: The last supergroup I really loved was the Traveling Wilburys (we're talking late ’80s, people). No matter how much I really love the idea of some musicians getting together to combine their awesome powers, it more often than not turns out less stellar than anticipated. And I'll even admit that I'm not as blown away by the music of Them Crooked Vultures as I thought I'd be. This is, however, because I sort of let my mind imagine the most euphoric experience possible, and, of course, Led Zeppelin's already accomplished that. It's not the kind of thing that happens twice.

Regardless, this band is pretty phenomenal. It may be one big joke, but if so, I'm not laughing. I am too deep into this landscape of rock to see the humor. I've heard some people make comparisons to Led Zeppelin, and that's only natural. Besides, Jones is a former member and both Grohl and Homme have cited the classic rock powerhouse as an influence in their own music. So, we can just get that out of the way right now. Yes, the band is somewhat Zep-esque at times. Queens of the Stone Age? Of course. QOTSA wouldn't be what it is without Homme's form-defying guitar licks and buttery vocals, which he brings beautifully to this project.

At times, the band's self-titled debut sounds like a prolonged jam session, but a darn good one at that. Homme does falsetto as a noxious guitar stream cascades over staid drumbeats on "Scumbag Blues," invoking the late-’60s sounds of Cream. And then there's the sweet swagger of "Warsaw Or The First Breath You Take After You Give Up" that drums up the whimsy of a vaudevillian carnival. "Elephants" deserves its name. Though opening as one of the most rapid rockers on the record, it falls into a thudding lope reminiscent of the large mammal's heavy stride.

The band's merits don't end at musicality: They aren't slouches when it comes to lyrics either. Homme can really turn a phrase. On album opener "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I" he sings, "If sex is a weapon then Smash! Boom! Pow! / How you like me now?," among a series of crunching chords. The song is drenched in innuendo. The dreamy "Interlude With Ludes" contains the band slogan, "I know together we'll make the possible / totally impossible," sunken in a psychedelic haze.

If every other song was just meh, the album purchase would still be made worth it because of "Gunman," a powerful, pummeling shot to the ears that makes your whole body want to move. And like any truly great album, Them Crooked Vultures finishes with "Spinning in Daffodils," an otherworldly twister of a song that gives every modern rocker a run for his money.

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