Sunday, February 07, 2010
A+E, Music, Reviews

Them Crooked Vultures

“THEM CROOKED VULTURES”  (INTERSCOPE)

Many music lovers bristle at the mere mention of the “supergroup” concept, that very ’70s model of established stars joining to push the limits of what they’ve already achieved. Despite some historical high points—Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, or, more recently, Monsters of Folk—the results rarely live up to expectations.

  Enter Them Crooked Vultures, featuring Nirvana/Foo Fighters mainstay Dave Grohl (back on drums), Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme, and perhaps most importantly, Led Zeppelin’s secret weapon, multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones. The possibilities seem promising for these veterans to tap into each others’ strengths and produce something extraordinary. Little of this debut from the trio, with input from Alain Johannes, fits that description, yet it’s a solid hour-long set that delivers enough surprises and left turns to be considered a moderate success.
 
  Despite the hard-rock origins of its participants, there’s a distinct progressive bent here. Homme’s vocals sound enough like King Crimson-era Adrian Belew, with a touch of Bowie, to veer from the retro, ’70s power trio sound that’s never far from the surface. “Reptiles” combines strains of later Zeppelin with an artsy, minor-key slam that threatens to derail but never does. Elsewhere, “Scumbag Blues” finds Homme doing his best Jack Bruce falsetto over an insistent bass riff.

  It takes a few spins to warm up to the Vultures’ unusual, occasionally experimental direction, but the effort pays off, justifying the dated, if appropriate, supergroup tag. 3 STARS—Hal Horowitz