CD Review: Them Crooked Vultures

When reviewing a new band made up of established musicians, the temptation is to search for comparisons to past works, to evaluate the new based on the old. Sometimes it bears fruit, Chickenfoot is, after all, nothing but another bad Joe Satriani album, admittedly with vocals. Upon listening to Them Crooked Vultures debut release, the comparisons are begging to be searched out, but the search bears little fruit.

Them Crooked Vultures line-up consists of three significant artists in slightly different areas of rock: Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones; Foo Fighters front man/Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl on drums; Queens of the Stone Age guitarist/singer Josh Homme fronting the band. The result is heavy, pounding rock that hints at the bands roots without ever stealing from them.

During the pre-release live shows Them Crooked Vultures have performed, drummer Grohl has aped his Foo Fighter drummer Tyler Hawkins, with a drumming style that can best be described as bombarding. Constantly in motion, the drumming doesn’t let up. On recording, however, Grohl displays a much more restrained drum style, preferring to stick with the groove, and let the song shine. It is both effective and enhances the music. On the other hand a band fronted by the singer/guitarist from one band is bound to have similarities between the bands. This happens less frequently than you would expect with Queens of the Stone Age/Crooked Vultures front man Homme. Of course it has hints of Queens, as lead singer that’s inevitable. But the risk is always that such a band as Them Crooked Vultures will be an extension of what the front man has always done, and the risk has been nicely avoided here.

Another risk posed by this grouping is that Them Crooked Vultures would become karaoke Led Zeppelin, with Homme having a perennial turn at the microphone. Dave Grohl is an avowed John Bonham fan, and teaming him up on drums with Bonhams rhythm mate Jones, the risk is real that Homme would be playing guitar and singing over an unmistakably Zeppelin back beat. This rap is, too, nicely avoided. Sure, Jones pulls out the clavinet and vamps Trampled Underfoot during Scumbag Blues, the effect is, however, subtle and in the background. In fact, the song borrows far more from Cream than any other known influence. Jones really noticeable creative contribution to this effort is in the arrangement. The songs, almost without fail, twist and turn, bridges with no connection to the song, Codas from left field, time changes, all staples of the Led Zeppelin catalogue, and common through this disk.

If we’re comparing Them Crooked Vultures to Led Zeppelin, however, it should also be noted to the negative that what Them Crooked Vultures lacks is some of Jimmy Page’s famous, “light and shade.” There are few respites from the very heavy, grinding hard edges rock music. No ballads, no light spots outside of psychedelic 60’s tinged Interlude with Ludes, that sounds like a reject from Jones days producing Sunshine Superman, a brass band coda on Mind Eraser no Chaser, a Bontemi Organ ending to Caligulove, and the piano intro to Spinning in Daffodils. The otherwise lack of breathing space may be the bands weakest spot.

It’s strength? The songs. A constant array of solid blues based rockers, including the opening single, the eminently catchy New Fang, No One Loves Me and Neither Do I, The Bowie meets Hendrix Mind Eraser, No Chaser, Elephants, Bandoliers and the aforementioned Scumbag Blues. All superior songs that more than compensate for a few weaker numbers towards disks end.

Being a fan of earlier rock and roll, I like to play a game with new CDs that come out. I trim the song line-up down to 8 or 9 songs - 40-45 minutes of music - as an LP would have been in the 70’s. It offers a fairer comparison between a newer CD and an older album, where much of the excess that makes it to a CD would get cut in mastering. Here’s what I get

Side one

No One Loves Me
Mind Eraser No Chaser
New Fang
Elephants
Caligulove

Side Two

Scumbag Blues
Bandoliers
Warsaw or The First Breath You Take

That’s an album that belongs in my collection. Two sides of great music that blend together into a nice whole. A great album. As it is, Them Crooked Vultures is one of the best albums in a long time, strong songs played with extremely high musicianship in an album of unapologetic rock. What more where you looking for?

Kitchener Nov 4, 1969

[caption id="attachment_174" align="alignright" width="144" caption="This as began appearing Oct. 11, indicating the show had been booked approximately four weeks before the show"][/caption]

In November 1969, Led Zeppelin was a young rising band. Their first album, released in January of 1969, went to number 11 in the Canadian album charts. They toured North America relentlessly, including 3 stops in Toronto, beginning their fourth American tour on October 17, five days before the release of their second album. That second album would reach number one worldwide and launch Led Zeppelin into the 1970s, the decade in which they would dominate the rock world. The only single from Led Zeppelin II, Whole Lotta Love, would go on to reach number 4 in the Billboard charts and become one of rock's ubiquitous classics. Led Zeppelin was on the rise, and Kitchener Ontario, population approximately 100,000, would have an opportunity to see Led Zeppelin before they became too big for shows in front of 2,000 people.

"Jimmy Page is Led Zeppelin." So begins the K-W Records Jim Clements in reviewing Led Zeppelin's Nov 4, 1969 show. The concert was performed to a less than full house of 2,000 fans, mostly university students. Iron Butterfly had played the week before at University of Waterloo, and $4.00 and $5.00 for tickets was considered high for the time. The show was shorter than usual Led Zeppelin fare: drummer John Bonham was ailing, and his showpiece Moby Dick was missing from the set list, as was Jimmy Page's Indian themed solo White Summer/Black Mountain Side due to a blown amplifier. Singer Robert Plant was having voice problems as well. The three issues combined meant the usual 90 minute set was a 45 minute affair.

For all the above, reviews of the evening were positive, noting the skill of the musicians, Page's virtuosity ("he stuns and amazes..." says Dave Fairfield), Plant's vocal counterpart and solid back beat of the rhythm section. The crowd was "with it..." according to Jimmy Page, calling for an encore despite the problems the band encountered. Kitchener Memorial Arena was a less than perfect acoustic environment, yet the set up was done "in such a way that everyone could see and hear the performance."

[caption id="attachment_173" align="alignleft" width="116" caption="Jimmy Page with his sunburst Les Paul"][/caption]

An enthusiastic audience is hardly surprising. Led Zeppelin would go on to become very well known for their outstanding live shows and from the very first shows they were noted as exceptional. Yet their was little of the shows in late 1969 that would resemble the Led Zeppelin concerts that the band would become so well known for. Granted, Jimmy Page had replaced his paisley telecaster guitar with a sunburst Les Paul as his main stage instrument. The guitar, sold to him by Joe Walsh, is the one he would use to define what rock guitarists should look like, and be immortalized in Paul McCartney's Rock Show. But little else would be familiar to those who saw Led Zeppelin even a year or two later. The set list was dominated by songs that would soon be gone: Good Times Bad Tomes, Communication Breakdown, I Can't Quit You Babe, What is and What Should Never Be, How Many More Times. All would cease to be performed in the near future. Whole Lotta Love, not yet in their set list, would become a vital component to the Led Zeppelin experience within a month.

Noted in later years for his strong stage presence, on this night Page, "rarely took his eyes from the guitar long enough to look at the audience." Stage clothes in 1969 lacked the pizazz of later years, Page appearing in Kitchener in jeans and a peach t-shirt, Plant in jeans and white t-shirt with black logo. Page was at this stage, however, playing his guitar with a violin bow, a holdover from his days with the Yardbirds and a showpiece of Led Zeppelin shows from their first show through to their last performances in 1980.

[caption id="attachment_175" align="alignright" width="126" caption="The ad changed the day of the concert"][/caption]

If you saw Led Zeppelin in Kitchener on November 4, 1969, you saw a Led Zeppelin vastly different from the band who travel the world by private jet in a few short years. Two years away from Stairway to Heaven the music was much more raw, the performance much less polished. But you also saw a hungry band of talented musicians, paying their dues, giving an undoubtedly powerful performance. If you saw Led Zeppelin in 1969, you saw them when it was virtually the last chance to see them in an intimate environment. Beginning early 1970, they would play major halls and arenas, and never return to smaller venues.

Mind Eraser No Chaser Free on iTunes

Them Crooked Vultures, who's debut album is due for release Nov 16 release her in North America, have made the albums second single, Mind Eraser, No Chaser available for free download on iTunes. This offer is available until Monday November 9th.


While you are there, the first single, New Fang, is available for $1.29, and the album can be pre-ordered for $11.99.



As well, the album, in CD or vinyl format, can be pre-ordered from Amazon

It Might Get Loud DVD Release

It Might Get Loud, the theatrical documentary featuring Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, will be released on DVD and Blue Ray on December 22nd, just in time for last minute Christmas shoppers.

Retail price is set at $27.96 for DVD, $37.95 for blue ray.

And yes, I would love a copy under the Christmas tree honey.

Them Crooked Vultures: Sound Academy Toronto

Them Crooked Vultures, Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Foo Fighter's/Nirvana's Dave Grohl, Queen of a Stones Age's Josh Homme, and Alain Johannes, stepped on the Sound Academy stage in Toronto without fanfare or introduction, and spent an hour and a half blowing the roof off the place. Loud, tight and played at a pace that can rightfully be described as frantic, Them Crooked Vultures didn't let up from beginning to end.

The show began with Elephants, shifting time signatures throughout, Them Crooked Vultures announced immediately they weren't just another band. John Paul Jones stepped out with an 8 string bass, but didn't stay with it long as he changed instruments with every song: the 8 string, a regular bass, a slide bass, a keytar, piano, and a baritone jogamathingy, complete with skyward facing strings and built in TV set (lest he miss his favorite soccer team?).

Jones played  with a relaxed calm that belied the thunderous power emanating from himself and his band-mates. Looking at his ease and enjoying himself, Jones even stepped to the microphone for a call and response type verse. His piano solo was shorter than fans of his earlier work are used to, but satisfactorily familiar for that. I couldn't help but wonder if he would call his new piano solo two-bits, as his ex-band mates had stolen no quarter from him in an earlier incarnation.

Unlike Jones' calm detached concentration, drummer Dave Grohl was channeling the Muppets Animal: head bobbing, hair flying, sticks pounding in a frantic blast of timekeeping. Unfortunately, Grohl eschewed a drum riser (or at lease a riser of any significance), making him virtually invisible over heads in the packed house. That aside, his playing was top notch, showing no signs of rust for having spent the past ten years fronting the Foo Fighters instead of drumming.  It's not easy to keep in drummer shape, but Grohl kept it up for the full set, with no breath catching ballads to be found. Alain Johannes filled out the rhythm section with solid guitar duties, as well as playing bass when Jones' played his horizontal slide TV.

As a guitar player I can say with authority it would be a dream to play in front of such a rhythm section, but at the end of the day, Them Crooked Vultures are a Josh Homme vehicle as much as anything else. He fronts the band, he sings, he plays lead guitar. However, Homme's vocal was lower in the mix than is usual, and the vocals got lost in the thunderclap rhythm section. Technical nit-pickery aside, Them Crooked Vultures blew away a jam packed house at The Sound Academy, a startling achievement considering none of the music is available for public consumption as of yet.

Setlist (from setlist.fm)

1. Elephants


2. Dead End Friends


3. Scumbag Blues


4. Gunman


5. Caligulove


6. New Fang


7. Bandoliers


8. Interlude w/ ludes


9. Reptiles


10. Daffodils


11. Mind Eraser


12. Nobody Loves Me


13. Warsaw

***************

Notes

No introduction necessary: Singer Homme introduced Dave Grohl and Alain Johannes, but when it came to Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, he merely pointed to Jones side of the stage before the crowd roared in approval. Despite the lack of formal introduction, by evenings end chants of "John Paul Jones, John Paul Jones..." could be heard between songs.

The very strict no camera policy seen at some TCV shows seemed to relax on this evening, possibly because the size of the crowd made any form of enforcement impossible. That said, heavy use of back lighting by the band made taking decent pictures a challenge.

A variety of t-shirts, as well as a touque style hat was available for sale.

It Got Loud

It Might Get Loud, the guitarist documentary featuring Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, returned to Toronto, where it was premiered the the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, allowing me to finally catch a viewing.


The documentary brings the three guitarists together to jam, talk guitar and share experiences. The meeting of the fingers is supplemented by following each guitarists to a location away from the meeting: U2's The Edge to  Mount Temple secondary school in Dublin, where U2 formed and performed their first gig; Jimmy Page to Headley Grange, the Victorian mansion where Led Zeppelin recorded their legendary 4th album, as well as Led Zeppelin III and songs that would appear on Physical Graffiti; Jack White is filmed at a home, presumably his, with a young friend in tow, ostensibly 9 year old Jack White. For a guitar geek like myself, and a big time Jimmy Page fan, the result is a must see movie.

The three guitarists are blues/rock guys, with wholly different approaches to the genre, made apparent when Jack White is discussing how he dislikes effects pedals while director Davis Guggenheim edits in a forklift carrying The Edge's pedal board (it is an astounding array of pedals).

Throughout the movie Led Zeppelin guitarist Page is treated as the elder statesman, both by the two younger guitarists and by the director himself. The awe on the faces of Jack White and The Edge when Page plays Whole Lotta Love, inspiring The Edge to move to a different position for a better view. Even when they are driving to their various spots for the personal sections, White and The Edge drive themselves, while Page sits in the backseat, elegant in fine coat looking more like a wealthy banker than rock star. All elegance and grace, the only thing missing from the effect is a walking stick.

Musical highlights include Page playing the mandolin part from Battle of Evermore, White playing an old boogie woogie piano song, stomping his foot and singing along barrelhouse style, and The Edge showing how his effects change a simple song into a complex sounding layer of sound. Jointly they play In My Time of Dying and The Weight, with all three sharing in the vocal duties on the latter (Page most reluctantly). Page showing off his Theremin at movies end is also fun.

It might get loud is a treat for fans of each of the artists or their bands, an absolute must see for guitar players and a gift from God for guitar players who are fans of any of the three.

Them Crooked Vultures Tour

Them Crooked Vultures inaugural tour begins in Austin Texas on October 1st, and carries across America for 9 dates in 14 days.  Here are the dates:

October 1st Austin, TX - Stubb's
October 2nd Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Festival
October 5th Nashville, TN - War Memorial
October 6th Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion
October 8th Detroit, MI - The Fillmore
October 9th Toronto, Ontario - The Sound Academy
October 11th Boston, MA - House of Blues
October 12th Philadelphia, PA - The Electric Factory
October 14th Washington, DC - 930 Club

Tickets are on sale now for all shows, although some appear sold out.

Ramble On will be at the Toronto show so a full report will be forthcoming.

After the North American Fall Tour, the band will begin a UK Winter Tour in December with 7 shows in 8 days:

December 10th Plymouth, England - Pavilions
December 11th Portsmouth, England - Guildhall
December 13th Blackpool, England - Empress Ballroom
December 14th Birmingham, England - O2 Academy
December 15th Edinburgh, Scotland - O2 Academy
December 12th-17th London, England - HMV Hammersmith Apollo