Music Review: Them Crooked Vultures (Interscope, CD)

Yet another supergroup has emerged in an era where there have been lots of them (Chickenfoot, Velvet Revolver, Audioslave, just to name a few). This time around, we get a trio combing two alt-rock stars (Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age) with one old-school rock legend, Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. As with any supergroup, the question always is, was it worth putting this group together? Happily, this combination has clicked, and clicked nicely, on this debut CD, which finds the members drawing upon their regular bands to create a tasty stew. The main influence here is probably Homme's QOTSA, as he is singing and playing lead guitar, as well as presumably playing a heavy hand in the writing. Grohl, who fronts and composes with the Foos, gets back behind the drums, a role he played smashingly in Nirvana, another band that impacts the sound here. Bringing Jones into the fold gave the band instant classic rock credibility, and the Zep stomp of yore is the foundation of much of the material here. (Jones even adds some “Kashmir”-esque keyboards on a few tracks). The carefully crafted songs, mighty riffs and Grohl's relentless drumming combine to make this a worthwhile addition to the collections of fans of QOTSA, the Foos and Zeppelin. The forceful production also allows for nice space between the instruments, especially on winners like “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” and “New Fang”. It really sounds like three buddies having a go on their instruments not to make a best-selling album, but just for the fun of rocking out.