New Music Review: "Them Crooked Vultures"

If you haven't heard of the band Them Crooked Vultures yet you are missing out on a good time. For those who don't know the band members are Dave Grohl, Joshua Homme and John Paul Jones. With a line up like this the term super-group has been thrown around in the media and among fans out there. Let me just tell you that this group is beyond that. You can tell each artist's contribution to the album. Lyrically and musically it sounds a lot like Homme's other band Queens of the Stone Age but if you listen closer you can hear the influences of John Paul Jones in Zeppelin style riffs and his relentless bass playing. The drumming by Grohl is reminiscent of his raw energy that Nirvana was known for. Grohl is a hard working musician and talented enough to play any instrument but his drumming is unparallelled. When you listen to tracks such as Elephants or Reptiles you feel as if the song is somewhat familiar to you. They have the feeling of Led Zeppelin songs but still feel unique and fresh. This album is not just the same old stuff from washed up musicians as we've heard from past super-groups. Audioslave was a fantastic group and as good as their first album was they didn't sound like a group until their last release.

By contrast, Them Crooked Vultures sounds like a band that has been playing together for more than a decade. In a time where many bands sound similar it is refreshing to hear something that is its own monster and not a rip off of other bands. Listen to the first track No One Loves Me & Neither Do I. The timing change is amazing and the song has a definite groove that makes you want to jam out anywhere.

Grade: A