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Written by jeff livingston
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Monday, 16 July 2007 |
 Era Vulgaris
Interscope
B-
The truth is that Nic Oliveri is missed. And after a dismal performance called Lullabies to Paralyze, Queens of the Stone Age needed to provide fans with something into which they could sink their teeth. Something dense, something clever, something furtive, something tasty. Era Vulgaris hits them all at various points, and sometimes with a mix of two or three. Never all four at once, which might be the only negative regarding the whole record.
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‘Turnin’ on the Screw’ kicks off with an unadulterated drum track straight from The Eagles of Death Metal’s Peace Love Death Metal. It’s truly five minutes and twenty-two seconds of a frosty beverage. And why wouldn’t it be? Era Vulgaris continues with Julian Casablancas lending his disaffected vocal stylings to ‘Sick, Sick, Sick’, allowing a marketing platform to hold and raise an otherwise lackluster ‘hit’. It’s not until the 3rd track, ‘I’m Designer’ that you get the full scope of what Homme is capable of even indulging in an octave solo, smooth chorus, lyrical jest, and even a little tiny flavor reminiscent of Oliveri. Digable.
It carries on in much of the same fashion for until ‘Make it Wit Chu’. Aha! The rabid pop sensibility of an otherwise meteoric rock guitarist trapped in a never ending Conan O’Brien look alike contest strikes fear in the hearts of the impostors. Homme really makes writing a catchy pop song look easy on this one. Should I ever have the opportunity to make an AMG pick, this would be it.
Era Vulgaris is an uncharacteristically consistent record from a band that went through a ‘senior’ slump. It should provide Interscope with yet another Solid Gold record. A party pleaser for your speakerbox, but in headphones, it’ll make you sweat, like Michael Hutchins. | | |
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