Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Era Vulgaris on Metracritic, Alpine Valley

By the way, does anyone really know anything about the other guys in this photo? I think two of these dudes are new. Pretty solid reviews across the board on Metracritic (78) this morning. I actually think that score feels about right if not a bit short. Then again, some of the blame falls on Pitchfork for their not so surprisingly shitty review. It took me a couple listens to fully get into this one but I'm close to loving it. I think it admirably stands up with their first 3 albums and far succeeds their previous effort. "Suture Up Your Future" is the stand-out for me right now. One of the better songs I've heard this year and as far as the softer side of QOTSA goes, I'll take that one over "Make It Wit Chu" (the requisite Desert Sessions cross-over). Head over to Popmatters for a very solid, well-written review.

Below, another album worthy b-side, "Running Joke" from the UK release.

MP3: Queens of the Stone Age - "Running Joke"

In related news, now that the experts on the WWW have solved the mystery of the Rage countdown, has anyone noticed who's opening for Rage during this Alpine Valley show? None other than QOTSA. What a fucking show, holy shit. That's 60 bucks well spent.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

EV is a pretty solid record. Oh, and the guy that looks like Paul Reubens is Julian Casablancas from the Strokes.

JK said...

i'm fairly certain that Julian is not in this photo...

NF said...

Correct me if I am wrong. From L to R: Michael Shuman (bass), Dean Fertita (keys, also a Raconteur), Josh Homme (leader of the pack, guitar), Joey Castillo (drums), Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar).

There's a great story/rumor about Castillo (formerly Danzig, Sugartooth, Wasted Youth) joining the band. Halfway through a song at an informal rehearsal Josh walked out of the room and then returned, only to say, "I just fired the drummer. The tour starts tomorrow." The rest is history.

Oh, and um, this album is SICK, SICK, SICK!

dhaffner said...

"Suture Up Your Future" is my favorite track as well. awesome song.