Critical Voices: Them Crooked Vultures – Them Crooked Vultures

Supergroups pretty much always leave fans disappointed. You know the drill: the individual stars are too unwilling to compromise their personal aesthetic, the members never make the effort to gel as a group, the songwriters horde their best material for solo efforts, etc.. But when former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones enlisted the help of drummer Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana) and guitarist Josh Homme (Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss) to form Them Crooked Vultures, he was choosing two of his former group’s most ardent disciples, and the result is unsurprisingly cohesive and powerful—a loud, crunchy throwback to the heyday of classic hard rock.

Grohl and Homme sound thrilled just to be in the same room as Jones. Homme crunches out vintage riffs throughout the record, squeezing in as many knockoff Jimmy Page solos as he can in the process. Grohl’s drumming seems equally inspired by Jones’s presence, and delivers everything from thick, punishing beats to timely, precise fills—cementing his place as one of the top rock drummers of his era (though also making his time spent as frontman of the Foo Fighters just that much more depressing). The group is at its best on tracks like “Elephants,” starting out in a driven frenzy and never really relenting. But about halfway through the record, it becomes evident that the Vultures have little more to offer than spirited rehashes of the kind of hard-rock staples that their individual groups have been churning out for years.

That’s not to say, however, that this isn’t a thoroughly enjoyable record. Homme’s vocals are placed low in the mix, drowned out by the sea of raucous noise the group produces. Most importantly, the three sound like an actual band, not just a trio of stars messing around in an expensive recording session. It’s a chance for Jones to prove he’s still cool, and it lets Grohl and Homme live out their childhood Zeppelin fantasies. This transgenerational collaboration is best played with the volume all the way up to 11.

Voice’s Choices: “Elephants,” “New Fang,” “Reptiles”