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Them Crooked Vultures
Alt-Rock
**** 1/2
Not all supergroups are created equal. For every Traveling Wilburys, there's an Asia; for every Highwaymen a Zwan. And the less said about Chickenfoot, the better.
Then there's Them Crooked Vultures.
You can't quibble about their pedigrees: You've got Led Zep bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones. Nirvana drummer / Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl. Queens of the Stone Age singer-guitarist Josh Homme.
Each is a bona fide rock star; more importantly, each is an MVP with a track record of extracurricular collaboration.
So whaddaya get when you put them all in Homme's desert studio and hit record? You get an album of hard-driving, shape-shifting, crotch-centric guitar epics that sound a lot like QOTSA's ominous robo-rock crossed with Zeppelin's swaggering blues-metal. OK, big surprise.
But how about this? At various points, this hour-long disc also picks the bones of psychedelia, garage-rock and even wave -- and amalgamates all those bits and pieces into a sound all its own.
Best of all: It never sounds anything like Asia, Zwan or Chickenfoot.
Here's a track-by-track rundown:
No One Loves Me & Neither Do I 5:10
Grohl lays down a slow-rolling, Bonhamesque backbeat for Homme's blues-rock riffing and jaded falsetto moan. Halfway through it shifts into a syncopated Zeppish stomp. Cool.
Mind Eraser, No Chaser 4:07
The punchy opening is a bit My Sharona and a bit Devo -- but the chuggy chorus and guitar overdubs are all QOTSA. Jonesy adds keyboard bleeps and squishes. And a brass band.
New Fang 3:49
This first single is anchored by Grohl's four-on-the-floor boogie, festooned with duelling slide guitars and topped with Homme's meaty vocal and a KISS-inspired melody.
Dead End Friends 3:16
A chunky little nugget of garage-rock power-chording laced with more slide guitar. It's kind of like Rocket From the Crypt, but with just a whiff of Zep's Middle Eastern exotica.
Elephants 6:50
Speaking of Zep: If there's one cut here that your dad's gonna love, it's probably this walloping monster, which ends up being a gene-splice of Physical Graffiti, Bowie, with a dash of Cream.
Scumbag Blues 4:26
Speaking of Cream: If there's a second cut your dad's gonna love, it's definitely this slinky psychedelic workout vaguely reminiscent of Strange Brew -- with a funky clavinet from JPJ.
Bandoliers 5:42
It starts as a fairly generic riff-rocker, then heads south of the border with some mariachi string textures from Jones and a little tragic crooning from Homme. True desert rock.
Reptiles 4:16
Homme's slashing, offkilter guitar is set against a rolling bassline and woozy keyboards to create a lost monument from Houses of the Holy. Has anybody seen the bridge?
Interlude with Ludes 3:45
True to its title, this is a trippy, narcotized fever-dream of reverb, sonic tomfoolery and bizarre Tin Pan Alley crooning from Homme. More of a fleshed-out experiment than a song.
Warsaw or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up 7:50
This slow-burning boogie-thump jam lasts even longer than its title. After a few minutes, it gradually speeds up and meanders around, but never really goes anywhere.
Caligulove 4:55
Fuelled by ping-ponging guitar riffs, this sexed-up '60s riff-rocker adds some Cream to In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida. Jones handles his organ extensively -- a musical double-entendre.
Gunman 4:45
A propulsively rubbery blast of semi-industrial wah-wah disco-metal, with more sex-metaphor lyrics from Homme. The Bowiesque chorus kinda squanders the momentum, but not for long.
Spinning in Daffodils 7:28
Jones opens with some pretty piano. But this is no last waltz. It's another gargantuan blast of hammer-of-the-gods hypno-rock that closes with a carnival waltz. You'll be spinning all right.
DARRYL.STERDAN@SUNMEDIA.CA