JOHN PAUL JONES New Project

[jsj]

them crooked vultures live from reading festival '09 are on british tv friday 20th november

[Deborah J]

them crooked vultures / new fang / bio studio and concert footage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-hKWcKL6rc

[tom kid]

them crooked vultures / new fang / bio studio and concert footage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-hKWcKL6rc

[/quote

Pro shot footage of Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I, look at the instrument JPJ is playing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Govf7K-gHqo

[SteveAJones]

The Only Thing I Know For Sure Blog

Album Review: Them Crooked Vultures

Album: Them Crooked Vultures

Label: Sony

Posted by: Michael

The most hotly anticipated album this year? The sheer fervour of excitement that surrounded the mysterious getting together of Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones got more knickers in a twist than a public execution of Gary Glitter ever could. But is it any good?

Supergroups have disappointed in the past: Grohl’s own Probot passed by with a meagre whimper; Jack White’s The Dead Weather are even shitter than The White Stripes and Velvet Revolver are just a bit embarrassing. But the key here is Homme’s presence. If there’s one musician in the world who knows about how to put a collaboration together and make it right, it’s the founder of the Desert Sessions, Queens of the Stone Age and an all round musical whore – Joshua Homme.

Homme dominates proceedings here. It’s immediately obvious that the album is unmistakably Queens in style. However, despite the presence of Grohl, it’s not a trip down the memory lane of Songs For The Deaf. Instead Era Vulgaris immediately becomes the obvious comparison. ‘New Fang’s whimsical guitar strains sound like a distant cousin of ‘3’s and 7’s’; the erratic riffing of ‘Mind Eraser, No Chaser’ harks of ‘Battery Acid’ and perhaps most noticeable of all is the hypnotising chorus of ‘Interludes With Ludes’, sounding eerily similar to ‘I’m Designer’, albeit slowed to bizarre tango pace. All the while, Homme’s voice remains uniquely mischievous and devilish, polished to an impeccable shine.

There are moments that only a Nazi couldn’t fall in love with: ‘Scumbag Blues’ sounds like the Queens borrowing from The Beegees with foot stompingly good results and ‘Elephants’ bouncing rhythm stomps brazenly all over the place. Meanwhile the climactic riff in ‘No One Loves Me, And Neither Do I’ drives a nail into the grooviest coffin you did ever hear. If it doesn’t make you want to twitch uncontrollably, then I’m afraid you got no soul, brotha. And you’re also responsible for the genocide of over six million Jews.

To be honest what does it matter that there’s more than a whiff of Queens in here? Them Crooked Vultures undeniably rocks harder than the majority of albums released this decade, let alone this year. By the end, you’re left feeling enviable – how dare God/Brahma/Allah or whatever spiritual deity you chose to believe in give Homme so much talent that he can orchestrate something like this and still somehow never run out of ideas?

Them Crooked Vultures is one of the best rock albums of this year. It’s infectious and attention-grabbing, showing what can happen when three talented, if not historically revered, musicians can achieve when they lock in to that special place. There will probably be no Led Zeppelin reunion; it’ll be a long time before Foo Fighters do anything exciting again, and even Homme might never be able to find the words to tempt Nick Oliveri back into QOTSA. But Them Crooked Vultures makes up for all of that, and more.

http://theonlythingiknowforsure.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/album-review-them-crooked-vultures/

[SteveAJones]

Goldsoundz

Them Crooked Vultures - Album Review

When I first heard about Them Crooked Vultures, it instantly sounded like one of the best ideas concocted in the last five years. It was instantly an idea I was jealous of. Why didn’t I suggest this, or even think of it? There are certain things in life we have to just learn to get past. Whoever suggested this, whichever of these power three it was, deserves all the credit in the world.Josh Homme has been riff sliding his way into my heart since I first heard the track, No One Knows, off the Queens of the Stone Age album, Songs For The Deaf. I’ve said it before, Homme is one of the two best riff writers out there, Jack White being the other. His riffs are rough, melodic, dark and catchy as hell. He brings all of this to Them Crooked Vultures.

John Paul Jones is best known for his work with Led Zeppelin. His bass work here is nothing I’d write home about in terms of complexity, but the framework it creates allows for Homme’s guitar lines to slink and slide before exploding.

Dave Grohl has always been a great drummer, and I’ve always preferred to think of him as such because I’m not that interested in the Foo Fighters. Grohl’s drumming essentially made Nirvana into the all-encompassing entity we think of them as today. His style is bombastic at times, yet always controlled. It is something few drummers can pull of with such astounding ease.

All of that background is hardly necessary. While these talented musicians are all members of other great bands, Them Crooked Vultures’ debut album stands completely alone. Not to say that its better or worse, but simply it can stand apart as something separate.

On the first few listens, all I could hear was a new Queens of the Stone Age album, which is fine with me. Had the release simply been that I would have been happy enough. This is an easy trap to fall into because Homme helms the guitar and vocals duties in both bands, and his signature lyrical style and riff writing is definitely present and prominent throughout the album. But after a couple listens, you start to realize home great the drumming is, and how perfect that bass line is, and how well Grohl harmonizes with Homme on tracks like: Mind Eraser, No Chaser. These are the things that make albums have a lasting impact.

The album begins with a great break beat and it quickly hands us over to the care of John Paul Jones and Josh Homme. The guitar slides here and there, distorted and ringing. The sound is almost distant, but not quite, as if Homme is just waiting to unleash and unleash he does. The first track begins a bluesy romp and ends almost mechanical and distorted. The momentum builds and doesn’t let up until track four. tracks two and three, the two singles (Mind Eraser, No Chaser & New Fang) are incredibly strong. Mind Eraser, No Chaser, is extremely catchy with a quick-moving bass line and just the right amount of serious rocking. The lyrics are top-notch as well, “ignorance is bliss until they take your bliss away.” After the first breakdown in track four, the second romp begins with, Elephants, a quick paced rock tune, and then quickly the energy drops back down to a more focused sixth track. These dynamics continue, keeping the album interesting and keeping it from droning on at any given place.

Them Crooked Vultures are able to hold the energy level throughout the album, whether the track is slow and melodic (Interlude with Ludes) or loud and in your face. They travel through various levels of intensity and many volume levels and musical styles. Where ever they go, you want to go along, if for no other reason than to just figure out where exactly it’s going.

I think what I like most about this album is that it doesn’t sound like a “supergroup album” That’s to say it doesn’t sound like three talented musicians competing for the spotlight and showing off their skill. Instead it showcases three great musicians playing in perfect unity. John Paul Jones’ bass lines are fairly simple, but fit perfectly. Grohl’s drumming is as reserved or bombastic as it needs to be, its adjusted well in each song. And Homme is picture perfect, and in top-notch form.

I’d highly recommend picking this album up, especially if you’re a Queens of the Stone Age fan. But if you’re a try before you buy kind of person, then you can listen to the entire album on the bands youtube, http://www.youtube.com/user/themcrookedvultures

All in all, I give this album, a 4……………outta 5.

http://gdoody.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/them-crooked-vultures-album-review/

[SteveAJones]

411Mania.com

Believe the Hype: Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures

Review by Daniel Wilcox

Considering the ridiculous wealth of talent responsible for recording and producing this album, one might be forgiven for have somewhat high expectations for this, the self-titled debut album from supergroup Them Crooked Vultures, which is made up of Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones. I’d list the various successes each has been involved in, but if you’re not familiar with these guys, please make your way to the nearest exit. Not even Chickenfoot, which boasts the talents of Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Chad Smith and Michael Anthony, could lay claim to being the most talented supergroup to have emerged this year, despite having an additional member. So is there any way that this record could live up to the expectations?

The answer is a resounding yes, and not just in terms of the record’s quality, which is superb, but of the band’s sound. There are moments that are very much reminiscent of Led Zeppelin, such as the riff rock of “Elephants,” which pays homage to Zeppelin like I’ve never heard before. Elsewhere there are moments that are very much a reminder of the smashing work Homme has done with Queens of the Stone Age. He also lays down some pretty hefty solos here and there, which a particular former band mate of Jones’ would probably even be proud of; if you will, Homme takes a Page out of Zeppelin’s book. Homme, by the way, does the vast majority of vocal duty for those wondering. I was hoping he and Grohl would share that load more evenly, but alas, the Foo Fighter is limited to one chorus (“Mind Eraser, No Chaser”) and backing vocals.

Grohl does leave his fingerprints all over the record though. The drum intro of opening track “No One Loves Me...” is instantly recognizable as Grohl, and his drumming work throughout is sound. It sounds as if working with one of their idols has brought out the best in Grohl and Homme, and although the record as a whole comes off as one kick-ass jam session, it sounds as though all three guys are having the time of their lives. Indeed, Jones probably hasn’t had this much fun in thirty years. He lays down some pretty bad ass keyboard solos in addition to his stunning work on bass. “Reptiles” in particular, has some outstanding bass work and is very Zeppelin-like.

Lyrically, this is a bit of a silly record that. Most lyrics are clearly penned by Homme. But to me that just adds to the fun of it all. While they may be the most talented trio of musicians around, they don’t take themselves too seriously. They didn’t spend too long on this record; it’s very much riff rock but Them Crooked Vultures benefits from that.

Undoubtedly, Homme is the driving force of this album. As vocalist and guitarist, it’s natural that this record would sound like something of a distant cousin to R or Songs for the Deaf, particularly as Grohl did the drum work on the latter. His aggressive yet quirky style is seen all over this record, from the wandering digressions in single “New Fang,” to the cocky strut of “Gunman.” There’s plenty of psychedelic offerings here too, such as the awfully-titled “Interlude with Ludes,” and significant moments of the mammoth album-closer “Spinning in Daffodils.” There’s a few surprising pop-hooks too, such as that of “Bandoliers,” which oddly compliment the hard rock, guitar-smothered debut. Moments like this manage to make classic rock feel altogether contemporary and relevant.

Essential downloads: “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I,” “Mind Eraser, No Chaser,” “New Fang,” “Elephants,” “Bandoliers,” “Reptiles,” “Warsaw...” “Gunman” and “Spinning in Daffodils.”

http://www.411mania.com/music/album_reviews/122109/Them-Crooked-Vultures---Them-Crooked-Vultures-Review.htm

[Walter]

I really appreciate discovering unfamilar sonic landscapes - I enjoy but don't need Black Dog at this stage of my life. I do

need Scumbag Blues, Bandoliers, and Dead End Friends.

Well said. Love the new disc - everytime I listen to it, I pick up on something new that I hadn't noticed previously.

[The Pagemeister]

Them Crooked Vultures - Dead End Friends - The Roxy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VBGAagcG9g

[SteveAJones]

Them Crooked Vultures Rock The Roxy

By Johnny Firecloud, November 17th, 2009

Last night’s surprise warm-up show at the Roxy by Them Crooked Vultures was a deafening barrage of pure rock ecstasy that lives up to the archives of praise they’ve quickly amassed in these tubes. Only a few hundred crammed inside the tiny club for a smaller rendition of what’s to come tonight at the band’s Wiltern show, which coincides with the release of their phenomenal eponymous debut album today.

My hearing is a constant state of distant, impossibly high-pitched whirring, my senses are jarred and surging adrenaline has given way to the onset of a musical hangover.

The performance was fantastic. Here’s what you need to know, at least for now:

Setlist: Elephants / Dead End Friends / Scumbag Blues / Gunman / Highway 1 / New Fang / Caligulove / Bandoliers / Mind Eraser / Daffodils / Interlude w/ Ludes / Reptiles / Nobody Loves Me / Warsaw

Non-album track Highway 1 was played – an eerie, echoing psychedelia whirlwind countering Grohl’s immense pounding and skittering backbeats. If you’d like some lyrics, I got what I think is the first verse shoved in my hand on my way out the door:

The sun sets on Highway 1

Saturn will devour his son

Ghosts on the run forever

There’s no Hell

There’s no Heaven

We must go home, home my brother

Wrong once before

Now wrong another

Saturn will devour his son

As the sun sets on Highway 1

There was a marked growth in confidence among the entire band, having road-tested the songs. The first two times we saw them, back during our trip to Austin City Limits in October, the band was still trying to keep up with the spazzing robot riffs, the tempo changes, the succession of sudden back doors that are precisely what make them so hauntingly badass.

Photo Gallery:

http://www.antiquiet.com/shows/2009/11/them-crooked-vultures-roxy-review/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+antiquiet+%28Antiquiet%29

[SteveAJones]

Album Review

Them Crooked Vultures, 'Them Crooked Vultures'

Boston Globe

November 16, 2009

Rock

Them Crooked Vultures Them Crooked Vultures

DGC / Interscope

ESSENTIAL “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I’’

When in doubt, freak ’em out. That seems to be the philosophy behind Them Crooked Vultures, the teaming of Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones on bass and keys, Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl on drums, and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme on guitars and vocals. The band’s self-titled debut at times leans too heavily on familiar riff ’n’ roll, but for the most part it’s a groovy cross-generational jam. Jones still has powerful rock chops, deploying an assortment of nimble rhythm lines and various sonic accoutrements that give this record its psychedelic sheen. Grohl and Homme, who have an established working chemistry, sound fearless in ushering Jones back into some muscular boogie after his years away from the stuff. The best-crafted songs hit early, with spry wordplay and shape-shifting arrangements dominating the top half of the record. Somewhere in the middle, around the martial “Elephants’’ or jittery “Reptiles,’’ things get weirder and hazier. Celebrating power trios of yore, the Vultures find the crossroads of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience on “Scumbag Blues.’’ The drug haze gets thick on “Interlude With Ludes,’’ and “Warsaw’’ leaves you hearing double. (Out tomorrow)

SCOTT McLENNAN

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/cd_reviews/...ooked_vultures/

[SteveAJones]

CD review: Them Crooked Vultures - 'Them Crooked Vultures'

By Joe Goss | Monday, November 16, 2009, 08:24 PM

Austin360.com

Them Crooked Vultures

'Them Crooked Vultures'

(Sony BMG, DGC/Interscope, Columbia)

Grade: B-

A well-meant ode to goofing off with pals and heroes, Them Crooked Vultures can't be accused of having a thought in its heavy head outside of "Let's rock!" Since so few bands aspire to that simple notion these days (what's up, Monsters of Folk), these guys sound downright outside the box.

It helps that they are a trio of weights so heavy they filmed an "Austin City Limits" episode months before their album was released. John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin, bass, elder statesman), Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, drums, alt-rock vet) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, hard rock's tallest, most suave man) make quite a crew. And hey, the songs are almost there.

As anyone who saw their "ACL" taping, ACL Fest show or Stubb's gig know, these Vultures came to boogie. The tracks range from stuff that sounds a whole lot like Queens ("New Fang," "Mind Eraser, No Chaser," "Caligulove," which is the most Queens-sounding song title Homme has ever come up with) to stuff that sounds an awful lot like Zeppelin ("Elephant," "Reptiles"). "Spinning in Daffodils" is the full-on psychedelic jam, seven minutes of piano intros, Zep riffs, Grohl's rolling, wonder-thump and general rock 'n' roll sprawl. There might be an organ involved in "Warsaw or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up"; not their best idea.

But hey, there's nothing here that's anybody's best idea. That's the problem with supergroups — nobody is ever going to hand over their finest notion to a project band, no matter who else in the group that person is trying to impress. Just throw the CD in the car and hit the highway.

http://www.austin360...in_music_source

The review above also appeared in The Palm Beach Post on November 17, 2009 and was entitled "Vultures Get Very 'eavy, very 'ard"

http://www.pbpulse.com/music/album-reviews/2009/11/17/vultures-get-very-eavy-very-ard/

[SteveAJones]

REVIEW: THEM CROOKED VULTURES

– S/T

November 17th, 2009 by Oswald Hobbes IV

AssaultBlog.com

A lot of people got excited when Led Zeppelin (kinda) reformed last year to play a benefit show. I didn’t. There’s nothing to be gained from a full Zep reunion – their catalog is almost flawless, and their legacy speaks for itself. Them Crooked Vultures, on the other hand, is a much more enticing proposition. Dave Grohl, the closest our generation has to a Bonham, teams up with super-charismatic Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Hamme and Zeppelin’s own secret weapon, John Paul Jones: this isn’t a supergroup, it’s a dream team.Of course there’s always the possibility of this turning into some newfangled version of Damn Yankees (see: Audioslave), but I’m happy to report that Them Crooked Vultures’ self-titled debut is an awesome and essential slab of prime swamp rock. The reliably magnetic Homme has pulled Grohl and Jones deep into his scuzzy orbit; the record could easily pass for a new QOTSA disc, except it’s head-and-shoulders above everything those guys have done since Rated R. The twist is provided by Jones, who supplies his usual variety of textures and tones and lends the album a dynamic variety that makes it, even at a somewhat mellow-harshing seventy minutes, compulsively listenable throughout.

The basic format here is established right away: opener “Nobody Loves Me & Neither Do I” showcases everything that makes this band special: Grohl’s thundering fills, Jones’s background flourishes, Homme’s clever double entendres (”Don’t hold it against me / Unless it gets hard”). And the album steamrolls forward from there; most of the tracks settle in for five or six minutes, building atmosphere with circular, repetitive riffs and hypnotic rhythms. You probably won’t find a better record to simply get high and zone out to this year, but there’s some straight fun on offer too. “Bandoliers” and “Elephants” both take lumbering, Page-y riffs and slow them down to a crawl before exploding into righteous fury and then settling back down again; “New Fang” and “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” are pure punk blasts with delightfully sweet chorus melodies.

If you’re looking for a shot of Zep, “Scumbag Blues” would fit nicely on the first half of Presence, and “Reptiles” sounds like a sequel to “Trampled Under Foot.” Foo Fighters fans might be disappointed – Grohl doesn’t get any mic time – but people who still like getting blitzed and playing In Utero at full volume can really rejoice. Dude still has a special gift for running his shit and making it look easy; he drives every song here, probably with a grin on his face. And Homme is in especially fine form, too – his playing is creative and varied, with slinky, seductive lines giving way to master-blaster power chords giving way to masterful solos giving way to psychedelic freak-outs. Them Crooked Vultures always feel one step away from the edge – there’s just so damn much of it. But these guys earn the run time, building atmosphere and then blowing holes through it.

You already know if this is your cup of tea; all three personalities here are well-defined brands at this point, and the combustion that results when they’re in the same room should come as no surprise. The only real shocker here is how damn good these songs are. None of the thirteen tracks sound like leftovers, and spontaneity and song-craft carry equal weight. The musical touchstones are obvious, but here’s a visual: think about the astral ballet near the beginning of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, with the massive spaceships gliding around, huge but still dwarfed by cold, dark space. Listening to this record, you start to get an idea of how those astronauts inside feel.

http://www.assaultblog.com/review-them-crooked-vultures-st/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AssaultShirtsBlog+%28AssaultBLOG%29

[SteveAJones]

Scraping Genius Off The Wheel

THEM CROOKED WANKERS

Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 3:30pm by Gary Suarez

MetalSucks.net

A little over a week ago, I still felt so very excited about Them Crooked Vultures, the supergroup featuring such rock stars Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana), Josh Homme (Kyuss, Queens Of The Stone Age), and John Paul Jones (some obscure 60s/70s band). With Grohl back behind the drums again and Homme as frontman, this somewhat clandestinely publicized grouping swelled with potential and promise.

Then, I saw them live.

Them Crooked Vultures suck in spite of themselves, churning out some seriously generic and geriatric classic rock at New York's Roseland Ballroom last week. I respected them for refusing to play any recognizable tracks from any of their projects, but I would've respected them a whole lot more if the songs weren't so damn boring. The Crooked Vultures are like a cover band that staunchly plays B-sides from B-list hard rock bands. Clearly Grohl, Homme, and Jones were having a terrific time on stage, and the audience membersmany of whom were under the influence of illicit substancesnodded their heads and applauded politely. But as each song blended blandly into the next, it became painfully clear to me (and less so to Miss Elise of Reign In Blonde who also attended) that Them Crooked Vultures self-indulgently wank way more than they selflessly rock.

So if you dig great musicians making middling music, you'll definitely want to pre-order Them Crooked Vultures' debut on CD and vinyl. The release date for this thirteen-track snoozefest is November 17.

http://www.metalsuck...rooked-wankers/

[SteveAJones]

Them Crooked Vultures

(Interscope/Universal)

* * * (out of four)

by Ben Rayner The Star (Toronto) November 17, 2009

As anyone who's ever stood next to him or witnessed a guitar wielded like a toothpick in his hands can tell you, Josh Homme is a large-to-the-point-of-intimidating man.

His imposing stature alone, however, can't explain why the many musicians with whom he has collaborated – in Queens of the Stone Age, in his infamous "Desert Sessions" and in the other band and production arrangements – consistently defer to his vision. The man is hard rock's reigning mad genius, so egos tend to collapse in his presence; if Homme is involved, chances are it will sound like a Homme project.

So it goes once again with Them Crooked Vultures, a "supergroup" composed of Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones, who once played bass for a quartet of some note called Led Zeppelin. The concept seems to have been to give Homme his most intimidating rhythm section since Grohl manned the drum kit for Queens' 2002 opus Songs for the Deaf.

That record wasn't above indulging Grohl and Homme's Led Zep worship, and this one is no different, most explicitly echoing that outfit's disciplined, subtly freakish rumble on "Elephants" and the "Kashmir"-esque breakdown to "Bandoliers." Elsewhere, when they don't settle for knocking out another QOTSA steamroller like "Dead End Friends," the warped sonics, glam-struck Homme vocals (part Bowie, part Jack Bruce) and air of druggy distemper mark this as the latest utterly satisfying and technically formidable work of psychedelic heaviness with Homme as its curator. And if that sounds to you like a good thing, it is.

Top Track: "Mind Eraser, No Chaser." Who cares if that Led Zep reunion was stillborn?

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/article/726522--cd-pick-of-the-week-them-crooked-vultures

[SteveAJones]

Vultures twist with surprises

Them Crooked Vultures, 'Them Crooked Vultures' ★★★ ½ (out of 4)

by Greg Kot Chicago Tribune November 17, 2009

Hot-shot resumes aside, the three heavy hitters in Them Crooked Vultures have a taste for the strange. Guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) indulges his weirder impulses in his long-running "Desert Sessions" ensembles. Drummer Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) instigated the excellent heavy-metal detour Probot. And bassist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) has collaborated with genuine subversives from Diamanda Galas to the Butthole Surfers. Together in Them Crooked Vultures (DGC/Interscope), the three settle not for bland detente but for something a bit more out there. The arrangements are laced with twists in tempo and mood. Nasty riffs and sticky melodies are everywhere, buttered over by the androgynous harmonies that have made Homme a hard-rock anti-hero, but verse-chorus arrangements hold little interest.

Instead, there are fascinating digressions, packed with surprises. "Elephants" shifts from slow stomp to herky-jerky room wrecker, then blisses out into a psychedelic slow dive. "Warsaw or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up" starts off raw and dirty, amps up the pomp with carnival organ and backing choir, then races off with Jones' bass and Grohl's drums chasing Homme's guitar. Jones' mastery of texture, whether on funky Clavinet for "Scumbag Blues," classical piano on "Spinning in Daffodils" or slide guitar for "Reptiles," is the band's secret weapon. Grohl's wall-of-wallop allows no one in the band to rest on his reputation. And Homme brings sensuality -- a rare ingredient in music this hard and heavy. Even "Interlude With Ludes," a spaced-out lounge ditty that serves as a breather between assaults, makes a point: The Vultures are hard-rock adventurers eager to get real, real gone.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-tc-music-vultures-1113-1117nov17,0,3465381.story

[Strider]

What's up my fellow Zeppelin droogies?!? Well, guess who was at Them Crooked Vultures gig at the Roxy last night?

Yes, me, your ever-faithful Zephead Strider....bwaaahahahahahahahaha!

YESSSSSS!!!!!! This is why I live in Los Angeles! Where one minute you are sitting around with your pal watching Monday Night Football and the next you're standing mere feet away from John Paul Jones in a tiny club!

First off, I have to give SUPER-DUPER-ULTRA-MEGA-THANKS to my friend Trixie who tipped me off to the whole thing.

It started Sunday when I was trying to figure out who amongst my friends was going to the Wiltern show on tuesday and if anyone had extra tickets. Trixie got back to me and said she couldn't go to the Wiltern show but that there was going to be a surprise Roxy show on monday night and she was gonna try for that one.

Drats, I had to work monday and by the time I got off work, it was highly unlikely that there would be any chance of getting in to a show that I figured would mostly be filled with industry VIPs, with very little of the actual fans getting in...maybe 50 or so.

So I resigned myself with focusing on tuesday's Wiltern show.

Monday night, after work, it's around 8:30pm or so and I'm over at my friends watching the futile Browns(Brady Quinn is a joke LOL!) get spanked by the Ravens on MNF, when I get a text from Trixie that she is in line and that they are going to sell 500 tix for $50 and there are only about 250 people in line and she thinks I could probably still get in if I get down there and that the band wasn't going on til 10:30.

Well, I tell my friend and we sit there wondering if there really is a chance. I am thinking 2 things...1) 500 tix seems like a lot for such a small venue, especially considering the band's guest list would take up at least 100 of the club's capacity, which I think is less than 500; and 2) Even if there are 500 tix available, if there are 250 people in line already and each gets 2 that's 500 right there.

Rationalizing, I said it's unlikely by the time we made it to the Roxy that there would be any tix left as we were about a 30 minute drive away, and since we had the Wiltern show to fall back on, no sense driving out there for nothing.

So we sat put, watching the rest of the game and then an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, when at 9:14pm Trixie texts me again saying that the line hasn't grown much since last time she texted and she really thinks I'll get in if I come down.

Again I look at my friend and relay the message...this time we say hell ya let's go! In fact, my friend is in such haste that he conks himself on the head as he's getting ready.

Of course, we had to make a couple of stops along the way to the Roxy...one so I could get some cash and another to put some gas in the car as the gauge was on "E".

Now as we make the drive towards the Roxy, I start cursing my blase-ness...man if we had just left when Trixie first texted me we'd definitely be in. How could I be so nochalant about the chance to see the band in a small club such as the Roxy? The place where I saw Bruce Springsteen in 1975, Bob Marley and the Ramones in 1976, Jane's Addiction in 1987, Foo Fighters in 1995, and Queens of the Stone Age in 1999, among many many more great shows!

Then I start thinking how is it possible that there wasn't a mass of hundreds, if not thousands, lining up at the Roxy for a chance to see this gig? Usually for a band of this pedigree, with all the fans that each member has, to play a show at a place like the Roxy in an industry-town like Hollywood; for the average fan to have a chance to get in would entail a whole days worth of waiting in line. Is it truly possible that I could just roll up to the Roxy at this late hour and still get in to one of the most anticipated shows of the year?

To be mere feet away from John Paul Jones. I had seen both Josh and Dave in small, sweaty clubs when they were in their previous bands Kyuss, QotSA, Nirvana and Foo Fighters, but the smallest venues I had seen JPJ was at the House of Blues on the Zooma tour and the Wadsworth Theatre in Westwood when he toured with Diamanda Galas. All the Zep shows I saw were either at the Forum or the Long Beach Sports Arena.

About 10pm we pull up to the Roxy and I see the line...shit, it looks pretty long. I get out to suss out the situation while my friend parks the car in the $5 lot down the block.

Trixie texts that she has just made it into the Roxy and that it is nearly empty. I do a rough estimate of the line and guess that there's maybe 70-80 people in front of us. Nothing more to do than just cross our fingers and hope the guest list isn't too large.

At 5 to 10 minute intervals the line moves forward and we creep ever so tantalizingly closer to the Roxy box office. Oh man, PLEASE don't cut us off just as we get to the box office window! But then, it would serve me right for not high-tailing it to the Roxy immediately after work.

Some firemen show up and now I am really worried. With them looking on it would prevent the Roxy from trying to pack more people than capacity allows, maybe they would even undersell the joint as a precautionary measure to keep the fire marshall from closing them down.

But the line still keeps moving and finally at about 10:30pm on the dot, me and my friend get to the box office window and pay our $49.50 and with our wristband and stamp to but drinks, WE ARE IN THE ROXY!!!!

WOOHOO!!!! I can't believe we actually got in...my karma must be awesome, hahaha!

A short wait at the bar and wow, beers and margaritas are only $5...we get our drinks just as the band takes the stage! As the band launches into the first song, I thread my way through the floor towards the left side of the stage where Jonesy is...end up stationed between Josh and John with also a good view of Dave, whose drums are not on a riser.

The Roxy doesn't have the best sound sytem...the Wiltern will sound better...but except for a couple of moments, it's not as muddy as it has been in the past.

I don't have the album yet, so I don't know much of their songs apart from New Fang, which they play.

But there were at least 4 or 5 songs that immediately made an impression on me...the highlight being one they did about 2/3rds of the way into their set. It was a killer jam, with Jones playing an 8-string bass and then ending the song playing electric paino solo. It fucking ROCKED!

For this Joy Division fan, the Warsaw cover was a treat...and I recall liking the song Reptiles very much. Interlude with Ludes(at first I thought Josh said Lutes, haha) was hilarious with Josh affecting a lounge-lizard style and Jones on one of those keytard things.

As a matter of fact, Jones played all sorts of things...4-string bass, 8-string bass, slide guitar, organ/electric piano, electric mandolin, slide bass.

Like I said, I don't have the album yet, but after last night's(and hopefully tonight's) blazing gig, I look forward to hearing the album and getting more familiar with the tunes.

And for those of you who had a chance to go to the Roxy but passed it up because, like me, you thought there was no chance of you getting in because it was late; well, all I can say is that YOU SHOULD HAVE CAME! You missed the show of a lifetime!

Muchas gracias to the band for making this show possible and for making it accessible for the average punter and not just the industry schmoozers.

And muchas muchas gracias to Trixie...I am your slave for life girl!

[SteveAJones]

Riff Report: What's new in music this week

By Sarah Zupko, McClatchy-Tribune

The Vancouver Sun

November 16, 2009

New music this week

Them Crooked Vultures — "Them Crooked Vultures": It's officially the year of the supergroup, with high-profile releases from Monsters of Folk, the Dead Weather and Tinted Windows. Not to be outdone, Dave Grohl has formed his own mega team, with Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age handling vocals and guitar and Led Zeppelin vet John Paul Jones on bass and piano. As one would expect from this mixture of talent, the focus is on straight-ahead rock 'n' roll with an anthemic feel.

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Riff+Report+What+music+this+week/2229844/story.html

[SteveAJones]

Disc of the week

Them Crooked Vultures: a supergroup worthy of the title

But don't expect the debut release to be Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age and Led Zeppelin all rolled into one

Robert Everett-Green

Globe & Mail

Published on Monday, Nov. 16, 2009 4:49PM EST

The band name looks like the product of a random word-generator, but you probably need to come up with something a little off the wall when several million rock fans are fixated on your first baby steps as a group (the Traveling Wilburys was another case in point). The debut album from drummer Dave Grohl (of Nirvana and Foo Fighters), singer-guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) and bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) abounds in sudden detours and aural illusions, as if the trio were determined to shake off anyone expecting to hear a tidy amalgam of each musician's past.

Of course we knew it would be a heavy record, and it is, in every way. The 13 songs are virtually all about being a rag-doll of passion, a glutton for dangerous substances or a hopeless animal for whom oblivion may be the best available option.

Ironically (or not), the music for these bleak anthems is confident, disciplined and full of invention. None of these songs travel in a straight line. Most are multipart compositions that save some of their best moves till the point at which you think you've heard everything. Several flicker out with a coda brightly at odds with all that's gone before, such as the brass-band waltz at the end of Mind Eraser, No Chaser or the seedy space-café groove that finishes Caligulove .

The album is full of hard-knuckle rhythms and off-kilter grooves, and relatively light on big solos (a good sign for this band's future). Elephants starts with what seems like an open dispute about the right tempo, as the initial guitar riff is repeatedly run over by a faster version in octave guitar and bass. Bandoliers has more displaced rhythmic accents than a Tchaikovsky waltz. But these guys can go the other way too: Just when No One Loves Me & Neither Do I seems likely to end, they launch a simpler, even more powerful variant of the riff that's been driving the song.

The smeary, bleary Interlude With Ludes rides a relatively slack groove, as you might expect from the title. "I know together we'll make the possible totally impossible," Homme sings, in a number that sounds like a Kinks tune that has spent the night under a bridge. Other echoes of other bands show up through these tracks, but in the end this is a strong disc by a group with its own identity.

http://www.theglobea...article1365301/

[SteveAJones]

Them Crooked Vultures, "Them Crooked Vultures" (DGC/Interscope) [2 STARS out of 4]

by Jim De Rogatis Chicago Sun-Times November 16, 2009

During the world premiere of Them Crooked Vultures at Metro last August, the primary joy of this latest supergroup came from surrendering to the pummeling rhythms of Dave Grohl--one of the finest drummers of his generation with Nirvana turned one of the most pandering radio schlock meisters of the last decade with the Foo Fighters--as he gleefully channeled John Bonham while assaulting the clock with Bonzo's old bandmate, legendary Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. You felt every punishing bass drum beat walloping you in the chest as Jones' rumbling four-, six-, eight- and more-string bass lines vibrated your innards, while at the same time you taxed your brain following rhythmic patterns turned inside-out and upside-down with no loss of forward momentum.

This was hard rock that was as visceral as it was intellectual, and it was a jolly good time and a pretty impressive trick--onstage. Unfortunately, it hasn't translated nearly as well now that the much-buzzed all-star trio, which expands to a quartet in concert, has finally released its debut album, and much of the blame must rest on the third leg of this glitzy tripod, Queens of the Stone Age bandleader Josh Homme.

Given the leisure and the dubious benefit of pondering the songwriting and parsing Homme's weak and not in a Robert Plant-like way vocals--not for nothing has this guy often ceded the mike to guest singers with the Queens--all of the flaws of this made-in-a-manager's-boardroom collaboration become all too obvious, and they are the same as most supergroups': Star power and virtuosity don't compensate for lackluster material, no matter how much the musicians are stoked to be jamming with storied peers.

Jones' impressive skills as a master arranger and versatile multi-instrumentalist are underutilized, with only the odd coda (such as the "Sgt. Pepper's"-style outro incongruously tacked onto the end of "Mind Eraser No Chaser"), afterthought dollop of keyboards ("Spinning in Daffodils") or downright bad idea (the lounge music-on-Mars detour of "Interlude with Ludes") hinting at that reservoir of talent. Grohl's undeniable ear for hooks and sweet backing vocals also go untapped, putting most of the burden on Homme to craft the vehicles to carry these Grand Prix drivers, and he delivers tunes that would be filler at best on the finest Queens albums (the single "New Fang" or the stomping "Elephants") as well as material that at worst wouldn't make the cut on a "Desert Sessions" toss-off ("Bandoliers" or "Caligulove," whose lyrics are even worse than that titles might indicate: "I already gotcha baby/Put yourself upon me/I'm in lust, a slave to desire/When you Caligulove me").

Yes, there are pleasures to be had: Muso-geeks would be happy to hear Jones and Grohl play the Britney Spears songbook, just because it was the two of them playing. But for all the promises the musicians showed onstage--or, for that matter, in much of what they've done before--the sum of the whole on record is much less than each of the parts.

http://blogs.suntime...s_them_cro.html

[SteveAJones]

POP MUSIC

Them Crooked Vultures have an understanding

Dave Grohl, Joshua Homme and John Paul Jones, who jelled from their first jam, have an album to show for their fast-bonding ways.

John Paul Jones, Josh Homme and Dave Grohl of Them Crooked Vultures. (Dustin Rabin Photography)by Steve Appleford Los Angeles Times November 16, 2009

Reporting from New York - Dave Grohl had a new rock 'n' roll dream, and it came true in a castle in Orange County. It was his 40th birthday, so the lead Foo Fighter and former Nirvana drummer celebrated with a January evening of jousting and costumed swordplay at the Medieval Times dinner theater, a venue promising a night "where honor was unquestioned and courage was unmatched!"

Cardboard crowns were distributed and roasted chicken devoured with bare hands. Among the guests were his pal Joshua Homme, the singer-guitarist from Queens of the Stone Age, and Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, on a visit from London. The two had never met, and Homme made a joke about knights and armor. In reality, he was mortified. Jones remembers him saying something like "We're not all like this. But Dave is."

From that unlikely summit came Them Crooked Vultures, the realization of Grohl's desire for a new band of heavy-hitting rock, melding Zeppelin's in- novation and tradition with the forward-leaning roar of Queens. From their first moments jamming together as a trio in Homme's Pink Duck Studio in Burbank, they were linked by thunderous improvisation and playfulness.

"We literally switched on amps and just started something," Jones said. "Already you could feel the beginnings of an intelligent band."

The recorded results of that collaboration can be heard with Tuesday's Interscope release of the band's self-titled debut. It's celebrated the same night with a performance at the Wiltern, where songs are likely to be stretched out during extended jams.

"We can create those moments where you get the chills, but we can't choreograph them. They just sort of happen," Grohl said excitedly. "They happened within the first three minutes that we jammed ever. And they happen every single night."

It's a quiet afternoon backstage at the Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan, and Grohl is relaxing with his legs up on a couch. In a few hours it would be the band's 14th show ever, and from a nearby hallway came the plucking of an eight-string cigar-box guitar by touring rhythm guitarist Alain Johannes.

"When we went in to record this, there was this understanding that anything goes," Grohl said. "There was no discussion of how it should sound. We just let it happen."

From the moment news leaked of the trio, it was dubbed a "super group," a usually dubious category that often promises more than it can ever deliver, though a number of musicians seem to be teaming up on projects lately -- indie rockers Conor Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward and Mike Mogis formed the cheekily titled Monsters of Folk, while veterans (and former Van Halen musicians) Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony teamed with guitarist Joe Satriani and drummer Chad Smith for a new group called Chickenfoot.

Them Crooked Vultures emerged from some organic roots. Grohl first became a serious drummer while studying the playing of John Bonham on Zeppelin albums and bootlegs. And he's been friends with Homme since 1992; they became collaborators when Grohl joined QOTSA as the drummer on 2002's "Songs for the Deaf" album and a tour. It was his first extended stint behind the drums since the end of Nirvana in 1994.

"Josh and I had been talking about working together again for a long time," Grohl said. "After I left Queens of the Stone Age to go back to the Foo Fighters, I realized the connection I had with Josh was something special that kind of only comes once in a lifetime -- when you meet that musician that understands your intuition."

Homme was unsure how the esteemed British bassist would react to his worldview. While recording vocals in Burbank, Jones watched from the control room.

"You're supposed to be vulnerable, but it's so naked," Homme said. "I'm thinking, this song is called 'Mind Eraser, No Chaser.' Is he going to be like, 'You're an idiot'?" He laughs. "I walk through the door and he goes, [adopts British accent] 'That's brilliant!' . . . I hugged the guy."

The new band recorded 18 songs, trimming the total to 13 for the album. There is a Zeppelin-like rhythm to the heaviest tracks, including "No One Loves Me and Neither Do I" and "Elephants," with sparks of sci-fi guitar from Homme and lyrics that are surreal, bleak and comic. Those originals are all that the band has performed onstage since its August live debut at the Metro in Chicago. Nothing by Zeppelin, Queens or the Foos.

"We're not a cover band," said Homme, 36, adding that both Queens and the Foos continue as active units. "The point is that this is very now. We happen to each have our own pedigree, but it's not about that as much as what we're doing. That's what makes it vital."

A year ago, Jones thought he might be preparing for a Zeppelin-related project, following the classic rock act's October 2007 reunion concert at London's O2 Arena.

"I remember a thought came to me as I was doing that show, a typical first night of the tour thought: 'Hmm, I'll do that differently tomorrow,' " said Jones, 63. "Then I went, 'Oh, this is the first night and the last night of the tour.' "

Singer Robert Plant chose not to go on, and there was some thought of the other Zeppelin players carrying on under a different moniker with another singer. They could not agree on that singer, and plans were abandoned. That's when Jones says he called Grohl and said: " 'Remember when you were talking about that band?' "

Later at Roseland, the trio (with Johannes) faced 4,000 fans, opening the concert with the heavy boogie-rock of "Elephants," Grohl head-banging behind the drums. After the extended set-closing wind-out of "Warsaw or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up" two hours later, there was no encore, but the show felt complete.

"This is, I hope, quite a long-term project," Jones said.

http://www.latimes.c...res16-2009nov16,0,830254.story

[SteveAJones]

Dave Grohl,Foo Fighters’ pilot, roosts with vultures

Grohl’s recently formed group, Them Crooked Vultures, puts him back behind the drums

By ALAN LIGHT

NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE, NEW YORK

The Taipei Times

Monday, Nov 16, 2009, Page 13

In November 1991, Nirvana’s Nevermind was beginning its climb up the charts. The album had not yet sold more than 10 million copies, had not yet knocked Michael Jackson out of the No. 1 slot on the Billboard album chart, had not yet become the defining moment of the alternative rock movement or given Kurt Cobain the “voice of a generation” status that would help prove his undoing.

Already, though, the band’s newest member, the drummer Dave Grohl, was expressing his concerns about the impact that the album would have on his future. “Everyone is always asking if I’m afraid of the band’s success going too far,” the 22-year-old told Rolling Stone, in the band’s first interview with that magazine. “That doesn’t really make any difference. I just don’t want to be David Grohl of Nirvana for the rest of my life.”

“What a spoiled brat,” Grohl, 40, said with a laugh when that quotation was recently read back to him. “But I think any musician would say the same thing — there’s a lot of ground to cover, a lot of work to do. I wouldn’t want to be tied down to one project or defined by any one thing.”

The odds, however, were certainly stacked against Grohl’s leaving a legacy beyond his role in Nirvana. The trio became the biggest band in the world for a time, then ended in horribly dramatic fashion with Cobain’s suicide in 1994. Grohl, who was known for having a personality as laid-back as his drumming was explosive (“He’s so easygoing, always fun to be around,” the band’s former bassist, Krist Novoselic, said in an e-mail message), was now permanently linked to one of rock’s most public tragedies.

But Grohl was able to create a second act for himself as the singer, guitarist and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters. From its humble beginnings as a one-man project, an attempt to find an escape from the shadow of Nirvana, the band has become a commercial force, steadily racking up hit singles (Learn to Fly, Best of You) for the last 15 years.

Even more surprisingly, the affable drummer who hid behind his long hair became believable as a frontman. (“I feel more comfortable being Keith Moon than being Freddie Mercury,” he said, “but my favorite lead singers all act like drummers, and my favorite drummers play like singers.”) Few pop musicians have pulled off a comparable transformation; it’s as if one of the biggest bands of the 1970s had actually been Ringo Starr and Wings.

And now Grohl has recently formed another group, Them Crooked Vultures, which puts him back behind the drums alongside the guitarist and singer Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and the former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. “People’s perception of Dave is that he’s the nice guy of rock ‘n’ roll,” said Homme, “and that’s accurate. He’s generous, comfortable in his own skin, but he’s also ambitious. He’s never really satisfied with what he’s done.”

This month offers the opportunity to consider the sweep of Grohl’s history. Within a two-week period a Foo Fighters’ Greatest Hits album (RCA), a DVD and CD of Nirvana’s breathtaking performance at the 1992 Reading Festival (UME) and Them Crooked Vultures’ self-titled debut album (DGC/Interscope) are all being released. “November is like This Is Your Life for me,” Grohl said on the phone from Los Angeles. “It’s very nostalgic, but at the same time I’m in this brand new band, and a husband and a father. My life is pretty out of control right now, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Nirvana was a struggling young band on the independent label Sub Pop in September 1990, when Grohl, a veteran of the Washington hard-core punk scene, became the sixth drummer to try working with Cobain and Novoselic. (A 20th-anniversary edition of the band’s debut album, Bleach, recorded with the drummer Chad Channing, was also released this month.) He moved to Seattle and became Cobain’s roommate; the troubled singer hardly said a word to him for weeks. In the spring of 1991 the band completed the sessions for Nevermind.

The Live at Reading performance shows the group at the peak of its power. It blasts through 25 songs in 90 minutes for an audience of 50,000, with Cobain’s impassioned yelp and guitar splatter powered by Grohl’s ferocious pounding. His memory of the show, however, focuses more on the chaos leading up to the festival.

“That was a pretty strange experience,” he said. “Kurt had been in and out of rehab, communication in the band was beginning to be strained. Kurt was living in LA, Krist and I were in Seattle. People weren’t even sure if we were going to show up.” (Cobain was delivered to the stage in a wheelchair, dressed in a hospital gown, and collapsed on his back before getting up and starting the show.)

“We rehearsed once, the night before, and it wasn’t good,” Grohl continued. “I really thought, ‘This will be a disaster, this will be the end of our career for sure.’ And then it turned out to be a wonderful show, and it healed us for a little while.”

Grohl said that over time Cobain’s tortured personality and violent end have determined too much of Nirvana’s image. “For obvious reasons it’s hard for people to understand that we actually enjoyed making music,” he said. “It’s easy to imagine that we were followed by a black cloud. But it wasn’t all misery and doom. People know the biography, they’ve seen Behind the Music, but it’s a little more complicated than that.”

Grohl had been writing songs during his years with Nirvana, and in the months following Cobain’s death he began to record them, playing all of the instruments himself. He planned to release 12 songs anonymously, under the name Foo Fighters (taken from a World War II term for unidentified flying objects), but record companies got wind of the project and began to pursue him.

“Had I considered it as a career, I would have spent more than five days on that tape,” he said, “and I probably would have called it something other than Foo Fighters.” The album was a moderate hit and lost the Grammy Award in 1996 for best alternative music to Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged in New York. Grohl added musicians, so that the group could tour. (It went through a few lineup changes over the course of its six albums.)

With its steady stream of muscular, melodic singles — including 17 Top 10 hits on the Billboard modern rock charts — Foo Fighters became one of the dominant bands on rock radio. “From a programming standpoint I’m grateful for a band as consistent as the Foo Fighters,” said Matt Pinfield, morning host on WXRP in New York City and a host of MTV’s 120 Minutes in the 1990s. “You know that every new record will have a couple of undeniable songs on it.”

The Foo Fighters’ record company first asked them for a greatest-hits collection a few years ago. “We thought, ‘Yeah, someday, that could be kind of funny, but let us have some hits first,”’ Grohl said. “But now that we did it, I drove around listening to this album, and I got kind of emotional. Now I know where those 15 years went.”

After the release of the album Foo Fighters will take a break, as Grohl begins his own next chapter with Them Crooked Vultures, which he formed with two of his numerous occasional collaborators. Since Nirvana, he has maintained something of a parallel career as a one-man bridge between the worlds of alternative rock and classic rock, performing with superstars like David Bowie, Tom Petty (who once asked him to become the permanent drummer in the Heartbreakers) and Queen.

“Dave is a great drummer and a fine fellow to boot,” said Paul McCartney, who asked Grohl to play with him at a Liverpool concert and at the Grammy Awards in February. “It was totally fab working with him.”

This year Grohl set up a “three-way blind date” with Homme and Jones, to see what might transpire. “Only a few minutes passed before it felt like not only a band but a really good one,” he said.

Them Crooked Vultures’ music — long, twisting songs with multiple sections and tempos, shot through with a scuzzy menace and dark humor — is more complex than the sounds of the Foo Fighters. Grohl called it “the most musical band I’ve ever been in,” and said that he was happy to be working as a drummer again: “You’re the goaltender, the buck stops with you.”

Homme said that he considers Grohl a great frontman, but that “when he plays the drums, he always leaves my jaw dropped — that’s really where the world needs him.”

The band has been playing shows, even major festivals, for months prior to the album’s release, leaking song snippets and hints on the Web as if leading some hard-rock scavenger hunt. “People had serious expectations but no clue what the band actually sounded like,” said Grohl. “So it only made sense to take everyone by surprise and go stealth.”

He said that spending these few weeks toggling between Them Crooked Vultures and Foo Fighters has illustrated more of the similarities in his various musical roles than their differences. “It’s a good example of all the lessons I’ve learned,” he said. “I know what it’s like to be a drummer and what it’s like to be a lead singer, what it is to sit down and shut up and what it is to make 80,000 people stand up and sing.”

Grohl has made an unlikely life for himself by keeping all of his interests in play. Unlike the burning intensity of Jack White, say, who juggles different bands to keep up with the music pouring out of him, Grohl just seems to stay open to what he calls the “happy accidents” that have kept his career going.

“I wouldn’t want the nostalgia to ever keep me from coming up with something new,” he said. “I definitely look ahead more than I count trophies.”

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2009/11/16/2003458577

[SteveAJones]

Pop & Hiss

The L.A. Times music blog

November 17, 2009

Live review: Them Crooked Vultures at the Roxy

On Monday night, the new hard-rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures played the coziest room of its very young career, charging through a semi-surprising 90-minute set at West Hollywood's Roxy, roughly 24 hours before the band was set to appear at the much larger Wiltern for a sold-out performance.

Yet if a 500-capacity club seems like a strange domain for these A-list heavy hitters Vultures consists of Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones on bass, Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl on drums and, as frontman, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age they handily resolved the disconnect by treating the Roxy as they would a sports arena: At several points, it was hard to hear the music over the groan of a sound system pushed well beyond its limits.

On its self-titled debut, in stores this week, Them Crooked Vultures brandishes its muscular low end like a weapon; rhythm sections don't come much dream-teamier than Jones and Grohl, so the band's decision to build its songs around fat bass-and-drum grooves was a wise one.

Or at least a clever one: Nothing about the infectiously slapdash "Them Crooked Vultures" speaks especially of wisdom, least of all Homme's goofy lyrics, which gravitate toward stoner-dude wordplay like that in "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" and "Interlude With Ludes." That's a pleasant surprise on an album that might have bogged down with the collective weight of these players' impressive pedigrees.

At the Roxy, where guitarist-keyboardist Alain Johannes served as an auxiliary Vulture, the band was best when it re-created the record's lighthearted vibe, pummeling away in search of a cheap thrill.

In "New Fang," the album's lead single, Homme worked his carnival-barker croon over a repeating boogie-rock riff, while "Scumbag Blues," with a killer Clavinet solo from Johannes, answered a question that's long burned in the hearts of all ZZ Top fans: What would "Tres Hombres" have sounded like if Nile Rodgers of Chic had produced it?

Anchoring the music with a nimble assurance undimmed since the days of "Black Dog," Jones served as a visual indicator of the band's swing the funkier the music, the cooler his cucumber act. When the bassist strapped on a keytar for "Interlude With Ludes," Homme couldn't resist pointing out that "he even makes that thing look good," and it wasn't just empty hero worship.

A few times, Them Crooked Vultures came down on the wrong side of the arty-party divide, as in "Highway 1," a spacey non-album track centered on Jones' electric mandolin, and "Spinning in Daffodils," in which the band got lost on its way to some kind of desert-metal epiphany. And the set-ending jam session that grew out of "Warsaw or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up" could definitely have been several degrees less epic: By the time Grohl finally re-instituted the song's beat after a lengthy Homme-Jones duel, the effect was one of relief, not payoff.

Mostly, though, Them Crooked Vultures performed Monday's show like a musical version of the new disaster flick "2012." They wanted to see how much destruction they could subject a tiny venue to, and how efficiently they could do it.

-- Mikael Wood

http://latimesblogs....roxy.html?sdasd

[SteveAJones]

FMQB - Radio Industry News Website

November 17, 2009

Them Crooked Vultures Album Takes Flight

Them Crooked Vultures' much-anticipated self-titled debut album arrives in stores today, and on Monday night, the super group of Josh Homme, Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones played to a packed crowd of 400, crammed in to the Roxy in Los Angeles to celebrate its release. Tickets to the surprise gig were available strictly at the box office the day of the show. The band played all 13 songs on their album, along with unreleased song "Highway 1," reports Antiquiet.com. TCV will play Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle and Portland, OR over the next week, then head to Europe for the first half of December. The band will then play Australia and New Zealand in late January.

In addition to the actual album being released today, lead single "New Fang" is also now available as a downloadable song for Rock Band.

As previously reported, Explore Music's Alan Cross interviewed the band on Friday, where John Paul Jones denied any rumors of a Led Zeppelin reunion at the Glastonbury Festival next summer.

http://www.fmqb.com/....asp?id=1592084

[SteveAJones]

Them Crooked Vultures CD offers 'them' amazing songs

Trio of rock groups collide, blow minds with amazing songs

By Carolyn Vidmar

The Badger Herald

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s premier independent student newspaper

Monday, November 16, 2009 10:00 p.m.

Them Crooked Vultures should come with a warning: Once you crack open this album and start listening, you'll probably want to kick the rest of your CD collection aside and leave it to gather dust for all of eternity. And if you stopped buying CDs years ago, no worries; the entire album is streaming for free on YouTube.

Calling Them Crooked Vultures a supergroup wouldn't begin to do this heavy-hitting trio justice; the all-star collaboration features Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) on guitar, Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) on drums and John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) on bass. Each of these epic influences is evident on TCV's eponymously titled album; it's got a classic rock feel with a modern edge.

Though each of these musicians have respectively churned out some mainstream hits, TCV's collaborative sound is decidely rough around the edges — they could eat pre-packaged, glossy rock groups and next-big-thing indie bands for breakfast.

The album opens with the bone-crushing riffs of "No One Loves Me and Neither Do I," along with percussion that will make fans nostalgic for Grohl's stints as a drummer. Grohl is a hell of a Foo's frontman, but on Them Crooked Vultures, he attacks his kit with such ferocity that listeners might question his sanity.

Every track includes some kind of surprise, like the brass outro on "Mind Eraser, No Chaser." The album's first single and one of its tighter tracks, "New Fang," has a bit of a twang, but it's too dirty to be considered country.

The ass-kicking, mind-blowing, ridiculously intense riffs continue on "Elephants," which sounds like the soundtrack to the moments leading up to a car crash or an explosion; it's so ridiculously heavy it sounds almost dangerous.

The groovy "Scumbag Blues," definitely has a bluesy feel, but it's rock 'n' roll to the core. Though the percussion on "Bandoliers" is fierce, this mellow track gives listeners a break from the intensity of the rest of the album. "Reptiles" layers luscious grooves with riff after grinding riff. Each track is rowdier, grittier and crazier than the next — because really, what do these guys have to lose?

The energy of Them Crooked Vultures never really wanes, but it does wind down occasionally. Tracks that are seven-plus minutes long need to be really interesting to keep even the most dedicated fans listening, and "Warsaw or the First Breath You Take After You Give Up," just barely makes the cut. Them Crooked Vultures heats right back up again, though, with the crunchy, sexy "Caligulove," which features a dream-like organ solo.

If this album is flawed in any way, it's that it is a bit indulgent. It sounds like these rockers threw caution to the wind and made the record they've been waiting to make for years, regardless of potential for mass appeal. The tracks get more experimental as the album progresses, but they don't really convey a specific point of view to listeners (unless the point is, this album rocks — end of story).

But at the same time, that devil-may-care attitude powers these songs. Them Crooked Vultures reckelessly surges forward, challenging our notions of rock 'n' roll and showcasing what these musicians are capable of. Maybe it's not radio-friendly, but who cares? Music is more fun to listen to when it's obvious a musician has poured his soul into it.

Them Crooked Vultures (the band and the album) is what rock 'n' roll fans have been waiting for. It would be a refreshing sort of kick-in-the-pants, except for the fact it'll make you bang your head so hard you'll need four aspirin and a nap to recover. Whether this trio goes down in rock history or disappears as quickly as it has exploded onto the scene, you'll want to crank this album up and blast it at full volume.

4 1/2 stars out of 5.

http://badgerherald....ked_vulture.php

[SteveAJones]

Album review: Them Crooked Vultures

by Aaron Gonsher

Washington Square News

Published November 17, 2009

3.5 stars

Rarely does a supergroup live up to its expectations, but Them Crooked Vultures have successfully produced a hard-rocking, heavy-as-a-brick debut album, mashing the members' individual strengths into a cohesive whole. Composed of lead vocalist/guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age), drummer Dave Grohl (Nirvana/Foo Fighters) and elder statesman/bassist John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), the band crafts songs that sound as if they're caked in dirt. Squealing guitars parallel the fluctuating lines on a heart rate monitor, while the bass oozes menacingly like a mud-covered hand reaching out of a swamp.

With Homme's distinctive falsetto and lo-fi production values pushed out front, a Queens of the Stone Age influence dominates the songs. His guitar skitters alongside Grohl's reliably tough grooves with unprocessed monster riffs and sharp filigrees. The noise he makes is like a sputtering car with a broken clutch or, in the case of album-opener "No One Loves Me & Neither Do I," a cross between a heavy-breathing stalker and the "Star Wars" trash compactor.

Numerous solos blend seamlessly into the framework of the songs, showcasing guitar and drum pyrotechnics without any overt pretension. Still, many tracks are all momentum and no catharsis, often devolving into a monotonous trudge and usually ending with quick blackouts, as if the band were exhausted. The exceptions are some clumsily tacked-on instrumental outros, such as a wonky, farting horn section at the end of "Mind Eraser, No Chaser" and an old world piano vamp in "Caligulove" that could be used as the soundtrack to ballroom dancing or chasing Frankenstein.

To the members of Them Crooked Vultures, rock songwriting is a formula: Crush the riff, pile on the rock, deconstruct the riff, speed up the rock and repeat. Sometimes, it gets exhausting. But at the end of "Caligulove" you can hear the band members laughing, and you get a sense for the album's philosophy: It's all about having fun, blowing out your speakers and smashing some instruments. And they've definitely achieved their goal.

http://nyunews.com/e...ov/17/vultures/