IN REVIEW: Queens of the Stone Age - "Villains"

Joshua Homme has never been one to shy away from risk. The very formation of Queens of the Stone Age from the ashes of highly influential stoner rock group Kyuss was a risk in that Kyuss had built a devoted fan base through the mid '90s that wasn't expecting tunes as sticky and effortlessly cool as Regular John and If Only. Over the course of the first three QOTSA records, Homme and many of his good friends collectively steered the group's sound in several directions, which gave the records the feel of really, really good mixtapes. This doesn't get more apparent than on QOTSA's star-making Songs for the Deaf, the desert trip thrill ride released fifteen years ago that remains one of the century's most influential rock records.

After the massive success of Songs for the Deaf, Homme set to stretch into uncharted territory and subvert expectations with the sinister, volatile Lullabies to Paralyze. Undeterred by the bewilderment of some fans to that record's aesthetic, the band went even further down the rabbit hole with 2007's Era Vulgaris, a cold slab of hard art rock that left some scrambling for the exits while the rest of us reaped the rewards that repeated listens wrought. Then, six long years later, Homme emerged from personal turmoil and a bit of a midlife crisis with ...Like Clockwork, a wholly different entry in QOTSA's catalog yet again; grappling with mortality and letting the mask slip ever so slightly, the album's emotional weight and dark humor marked a new benchmark for the band. As far removed as this was from those early efforts, though, it was clear that this band had indeed claimed a signature sound, a calling card that left no doubt who was responsible.

Even so, after all the sonic twists and turns provided over the years, there was some cause for concern among fans heading into seventh record Villains. After an entire career of self-producing, Homme handed the reins for this record over to Mark Ronson, best known for his production on albums by Amy Winehouse and Bruno Mars. Was he going to give our beloved Queens a dreaded pop makeover? What of The Way You Used To Do, the snappy and swinging lead single? Was this the band's new direction? Just how far off the trail they blazed were they willing to go?

As it turns out, Villains isn't nearly as drastic a departure as it's perhaps been feared by some. To be clear, this is a departure, although it's no bid for Hot 100 glory nor a mad experiment designed to run and hide from the band's legacy. This is certainly not a pop record, even if there are (by times prominent) synths. It isn't a bold faced sell out, and it's not a disingenuous concession in the hopes of reaching a broader audience. At the core, it's a Queens of the Stone Age record, and if you didn't expect changes you haven't been paying attention.

Villains takes a certain spiritual cue from Smooth Sailing, the sweaty and swaggering ...Like Clockwork highlight. After a 90 second spook show fake out of sorts, Feet Don't Fail Me comes strutting in like Smooth Sailing's hopped up cousin, stomping its platform shoes and swinging its arms wildly in complete disregard of its surroundings. It's a hell of a way to start a record, and sends a loud and clear early message: we're here to bang heads and bust moves in equal measure. The Way You Used To Do makes for a nice chaser to the album's initial sugar rush and, as QOTSA singles go, this certainly ranks among their most blissful; even if you were lukewarm on it when you first heard it, to have it in the context of the album pulls out the song's charms more effectively.

Domesticated Animals follows, a gnarled, snarling and almost political statement (almost) whose simplistic hook slowly consumes your brain until you're helplessly nodding and/or tapping. Then, the album's most emotionally gripping moment arrives in the form of Fortress, a touching quasi-ballad that unfurls into something huge and majestic, the kind of maturity-kissed tune that would have come off half-baked even a decade ago but hits like a ton of bricks here. Careful not to fall into a lull, they follow this with Head Like a Haunted House, a fun and furious punk romp that grabs you and doesn't let go.

The album's second half takes a few more chances, with several callbacks to classic touchstones. Working with Iggy Pop on last year's Post Pop Depression album clearly had a lasting effect, as Iggy's swagger shows up in abundance here; what's perhaps a little more surprising is how much David Bowie can be heard. This is especially true on Un-Reborn Again (which finds Homme hitting a few suave and chill-inducing notes that recall The Thin White Duke) and Hideaway (which starts with a synth lick that calls to mind Ashes to Ashes). It's the album's most radically different section, and the ultimate testament to the band is that, as disparate as these two songs seem to be from the rest of their discography, it still sounds like Queens of the Stone Age.

Villains comes to a close in superbly massive fashion, with the Zeppelinesque The Evil Has Landed (surely pulling something from Homme's work with John Paul Jones in Them Crooked Vultures) and the sweeping and longing closer Villains of Circumstance. The Evil Has Landed gives us a nice, healthy dose of classic QOTSA in between all the style and tempo shifts, and manages to cover a lot of sonic ground in its gone-in-a-flash six and a half minutes; it's almost prog in its execution, and it's a perfect snapshot of a supremely able group of players firmly in the pocket. Villains of Circumstance, meanwhile, is on paper just another "on the road and missing the one you love" sap show; however, after all the blood, sweat and glitter that came before it on this album and considering how rarely Homme has shown vulnerability in his lyrics, it comes off completely honest and is all the more effective because of it.

It should be noted as well that the album's nine songs (which, at first blush, had me fearing a really short record) clock in at a healthy 48 minutes, with several songs stretching well past the five minute mark; again, not exactly the kind of thing one does when aspiring for pop domination. What's remarkable is how many layers these songs have compared to previous QOTSA long-running tracks. These songs get ample room to breathe and grow, but there is very little dead space here; as alluded to when I mentioned The Evil Has Landed, there are a lot of ideas happening within these songs, layers to be discovered on further listening. So as to say, the replay value on Villains is off the charts, and it's got a lot of meat on its bones so that you'll get something more every time you go back to it.

Where Villains ranks in terms of the QOTSA discography is far too early to call, but I can say without hesitation that it very well could be their best album from an execution standpoint. Though there's no mistaking the core sound that's very much intact here, there are some significant risks taken, and these risks all reap rewards of varying degrees, so as to say there isn't a single failed experiment on the entire record. And, as it happens, any worry about a bland act of pop conformity can go to ground, because Villains is anything but bland and anything but conformative; as for pop, let's just say pop wishes it had artists making music this exciting and groundbreaking over twenty years into their careers.

August 25, 2017 • Matador
Highlights Feet Don't Fail Me • Domesticated Animals • The Evil Has Landed