Queens of the Stone Age (Pt. 2)

Continued from page 1

QOTSA’s penchant for hiring new players is well documented but since 2002 the band has always revolved around the core of Josh, Troy and drummer Joey Castillo. So it comes as no real surprise that their fifth album showcases more of a band vibe in a traditional sense than ever before.

“I think ‘Era Vulgaris’ is an album of two complete opposites,” reflects Troy. “On one hand it’s the first album where it feels like a traditional band and Joey’s playing especially is out there in people’s faces. But on the other hand, it’s our most experimental to date. We really didn’t know what was going to happen when we sat down to make it and that’s what I found so exciting. I genuinely think it’s our best work - no bullshit.”

‘Era…’ is also the first Queens’ album where the band have spent a set amount of time (10months) to record it. Described by Homme as “dark, hard, and electrical, sort of like a construction worker” it’s a looser, sexier album than the taught neo-punk sounds of ‘Rated R’ or the rampant riffola of their self-titled debut. It also shows the band in a more light-hearted mood after the darkness of ‘Lullabies’ with two cartoon characters on the cover called Bulby and Patchy, designed by Liam Lynch (he of novelty hit ‘Whatever’ from a few years back).

“Having Bulby on the cover is basically us taking the piss,” laughs Troy. “We decided to make these fake commercials to advertise the new record and Josh was talking about this really weird point in time where cartoon characters advertised smoking. Like you’d have The Thing from the Fantastic Four smoking cigars or you’d have Fred Flintstone buying a pack of Camels, which is so strange when you think about that today. So we decided to invent a character who could sell our new record for us.

“I don’t think anyone in the States has really picked up on that though,” he continues. “We’re even talking about doing this really trippy movie with Bulby just to freak people out but we’ll see how that pans out.”

While Queens may have had a rough few years losing best friends and long time fans along the way, the time is right for a comeback. Though it’s hard to ignore the hole that Nick Oliveri has left in the band - iconically and musically - on stage they’re still as fearsome as ever. Take their recent headlining performance at Oxegen earlier this year for example. They might have taken to the stage at midnight, but for an hour and a half they reminded us just why we got so excited about them in the first place and you can be guaranteed that when they finally make their debut in Belfast after two previously cancelled shows in 2001, it’ll be one of the events of the year.

“There’s no one out there that can touch Queens of the Stone Age when it comes to playing live, I promise you that,” smiles Troy, confirming for us, what we already know. “We’re the fucking best. Whenever we’re onstage, the press, the cynics…none of that bullshit matters anymore. We’re still making amazing music, we’re mixing it up every night and now that we’ve made ‘Era Vulgaris’ I think we can do anything we want.”

Words_Edwin McFee

This article originally appeared in AU 43, January 2008

Issue #51 - I Told You This Would Be A Good Issue

Featuring Biffy Clyro, Of Montreal, Duke Special, Frightened Rabbit, Cold War Kids, Jay Reatard, Pat Mills, and more.