Them Crooked Vultures
Them Crooked Vultures

Campus Correspondent Review By Hunter Embry,
Indiana University Southeast

Them Crooked Vultures is an intensely modern sounding band composed of three of today’s most well respected musicians. The group brandishes its intensely creative heavy rock in switchblade fashion with a self-titled debut that keeps itself surrounded deep within the walls of the classic rock format, while carving its way though untouched musical territory.

It’s easy to imagine what a Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) and Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age) collaboration would sound like, but the beauty of Them Crooked Vultures (Interscope) is that it happened and the outcome couldn’t be possibly be imagined. One could’ve expected punchy, room-filling drums from Grohl (also known for time in Nirvana, including the iconic “Smells Like Teen Spirit”), but the deep smack of the snare on “Mind Eraser, No Chaser” sounds like a Louisville Slugger being rhythmically slammed into the side of a Civic.

One could’ve guessed that Homme’s guitar would aggress classic-styled rock n’ roll riffs, but the tones evoked on “Dead End Friends” land somewhere between ‘70s back-alley punk clubs and outer space. While it’s probably more difficult to anticipate anything created by Jones, he adds a level of texture, dynamic and seniority to an already lethal equation. Jones, who helped spearhead a drastic shift in pop music nearly 40 years ago– a shift that proved to be as influential as any for his two new band mates– plays bass, piano, mandolin and even keytar parts on Them Crooked Vultures.