Album Review: Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

Album Rating: B+

Era Vulgaris was a slightly disappointing but highly predictable misstep by Queens of the Stone Age. After all, how many bands retain consistent levels of quality when their most creative and influential members are slowly stripped away? Although Era Vulgaris showed glimpses of why The Queens are the kings of mainstream rock music, it yearned for the intensity of Dave Grohl behind the drum kit, and it suffered from the lack of vocal variety which Mark Lanegan previously brought - not to mention the contributions of the notorious Nick Oliveri. Seeing all of these familiar talents in one place again in one capacity or another was almost inevitably going to result in an excellent release, but ...Like Clockwork has managed to exceed even that expectation, and is comfortably the band’s finest release since 2002’s seminal Songs for the Deaf.

Artist Of The Day: Queens Of The Stone Age

What is it for you which immediately signals that summer has arrived? For me, a few constants have emerged and now go hand in hand with that first sunny day and the smell of that BBQ. My concrete soundtrack to a sunny day comes courtesy of Queens of the Stone Age. Ice cold cider in hand, the smell of steak and nature in the air, Queens of the Stone Age took to the stage at a Leeds fest in years past, and from that moment on classically conditioned themselves to be my favourite summer band. It helped of course, that Josh Homme and co absolutely killed it in front of over 20,000 people.

Artist Spotlight: Sleepy Hahas

Influences.  Revival.  The two terms get thrown haphazardly around the realms of creating and critiquing music to the point that their significance and implications are rarely even considered.  Yet, I find it impossible not to assert that influence and revival are EVERYTHING.  Any modern music is derivative of past and current efforts, that much is obvious, hence the importance in whose wake a band will tread, hence the unquestionable gravity in which sounds they choose to revive and incorporate into their own product.  And if Buffalo, NY's Sleepy Hahas have done one thing right thus far, it's that they've chosen wisely.  Not their bandmates, not their name, not the design of their first tee shirt, but their influences.

Citing such influences ranging from Queens of the Stone Age to staple indie rock duo The Black Keys to the (sadly) now-defunct White Stripes, Sleepy Hahas have obviously aimed to emulate mastery with their music.  But they don't just leave it at admiration and name-dropping, they deliver big with debut EP Cranberry Juice and Battery Acid, demonstrating their own proficiency in the craft of hard-hitting, bluesy rock and roll.  From the ambient riffs of opener 'Blackest Sunshine' to the grungy undertones atop which 'Little Girl' triumphs and finally to an epic 8-minute finisher in 'Hazeltine Hymn', Cranberry Juice and Battery Acid stands resolute as a product of four kids with a knack for well-founded jams.

Hear Cranberry Juice and Battery Acid in its entirety on their Bandcamp, or check them out over on Facebook.