It is hard to think of a band surround by as much hype and excitement as Them Crooked Vultures have roused recently. The excitement is due to all of the interesting storylines in this band. TCV features John Paul Jones, titanic bass-player of Led Zeppelin, in his return to the rock scene for the first time in decades. The band is also Dave Grohl’s return to the drum throne à la Nirvana days for the first time since he took up a guitar to front the Foo Fighters after Kurt Cobain’s death. The supergroup also brings to the forefront Josh Homme, the cryptic genius behind the phenomenally weird Queens of the Stone Age.
The crowning achievement of the self-titled album Them Crooked Vultures is the track “Elephant” which fuses Jones’ bass nimbly traversing through a minefield of changing time signatures while Grohl’s bombastic drumming fights to keep up; the riffs offered by Homme in this song can only be described as Zeppelin-esque. Another great track is “Scumbag Blues.” The ethereal heavy blues rock is deliciously Cream-like both in the vocals and in Homme’s raunchy. Finally, the incredibly heavy track “Mind Eraser (No Chaser)” showcases the quirky, crunchy sound that this band has created all themselves and will surely be recognized by for years to come.
Them Crooked Vultures may be short-lived, but this album will definitely make them immortal in the history of rock. It is not perfect, but it is a powder-keg of killer hard rock that any music fan could appreciate. Jones sounds even better than he did when he was being overshadowed by the titans of Led Zeppelin in the 1970s while Grohl proves that he can still bash away at the sheepskins with the same authority he had as a punk kid in grunge’s greatest group. Most importantly, Homme emerges as a legitimate frontman after hearing this album. His guitar playing is quite good while his vocals are a smooth blend of power and pomp with a hint of evil that fits perfectly with this Zeppelin-heavy supergroup. While the storylines behind the band are surely what drew people to this supergroup in the first place, this magnificent debut album will surely be what has them coming back for more.
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