Them Crooked Vultures
Pun-inspired song titles? Check. Groundbreaking riffs? Check. Legendary musicians? Check.
These three vital components for any successful supergroup have been settled from the beginning, so surely the rest of Them Crooked Vultures’ self-titled debut album from rock-demi gods John Paul Jones, Josh Homme and Dave Grohl ends as well as it starts?
On closer inspection, it seems the guys have done more than just deliver the staple ingredients for a supergroup framework. There’s much more to look out for.
Clearly influenced by Led Zeppelin, the band comprises of two die hard Zep fans and the bands original bassist so it was always a sure bet that classic rock is what would permeate through the 13-track album. However, this albums undercurrent runs closer to that of Josh Homme and his Queens of the Stone Age-esque melodies, which you could say is natural, considering Josh Homme is on lead vocals.
Tracks like ‘Reptiles’ and ‘Caligulove’ pay homage to the Holy era of Led Zeppelin rock, while the syndromically delicious ‘Dead End Friends’ has the volume, compressions and dynamics of Grohl’s Nirvana era.
The album takes you on a journey, from musical bliss with the likes of ‘No one loves me & neither do I’ and ‘Mind Eraser, No Chaser’ to dizzying heights of epic-ness with the 8 minute ‘Warsaw or the first breath you take after you give up’ only to bring it all to a grounding halt with the 7-minute trippy-rock tune ‘Spinning in Daffodils’.
Unfortunately, those catchy Foo Fighters hooks are still to be desired from Grohl fans as Dave abandons any opportunity to infuse their influence into the Them Crooked Vultures album.
All that being said, Them Crooked Vultures will become one of the greatest albums of the year, because their fans are determined to hero-worship their individual gods as much as the music they produce.
FemaleFirst - Carla Pearce