Queens Of The Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork

Queens Of The Stone Age
...Like Clockwork
(Matador)

Grade: B

While it has been anything but a smooth recording process (one that was almost prematurely halted by the departure of longtime drummer, Joey Castillo, for reasons still unknown), the latest opus from Josh Homme’s brain child has finally been dragged kicking and screaming into the light, with most of lineup intact. As per Queens Of The Stone Age fashion, Josh Homme has his revolving door policy out in front, and it yields some interesting names to say the least. Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, Sir Elton John, Trent Reznor, and even former QOTSA bassist Nick Oliveri from the Songs For The Deaf lineup stops by for a track (who most maddeningly does not play ANY bass at all, opting instead to believe that it was his vocal performances that made Songs For The Deaf the stand out album it was and not say, his bass playing. But I digress). But perhaps the biggest surprise on Clockwork that more than makes up for the the loss of Castillo, is the return of Dave Grohl behind the kit for QOTSA for the first time since Songs For The Deaf, who contributes his polished drum chops to half of the album.

With Queens Of The Stone Age, you can always expect a few classic staples; fuzzy riff heavy rock, trippy lyrics, and some flirtations with weirdness. And on that ..Like Clockwork certainly delivers, with its only demerit being that it takes its time getting there, thanks the flow being all over the place. The album was recorded in pieces and it definitely shows on the transitions between the first couple of tracks. “Keep Your Eyes Peeled” opens things up by being a slow, eerie, bass-heavy lurcher, complete with Josh Homme’s trademark drone gently coaxing the listener into madness. It’s a damn good start to a QOTSA album, but that tone is never successful utilized again. The next track “I Sat By The Ocean”, promptly eschews the early album weirdness by being a boringly played straight, almost poppy sounding, riff rocker. But before you’re allowed to settle into thinking that THIS surely must be the tone the album is going for, the beautiful but out of place sounding “The Vampyre Of Time And Memory”, goes out of its way to establish that no, what you’re REALLY listening to is a depressingly somber album, filled with last call, bluesy piano ballads.

It’s a bit schizophrenic is what I’m trying to say, and while these constant mood shifts may be excused as just being part of Josh Homme’s personal charm, they’re much too jarring to actually work. Thankfully, the album improves immensely after wrestling with its identity for the first few songs. “If I Had A Tail” is a blistering, fuzzy, psychedelic romper with some teeth and blends the riff heavy testosterone with the right amount of hazy weirdness to push the needle going in the right direction. The Trent Reznor tunes, “Kaloposia” and “Fairweather Friends”, maintain that adrenaline push, toying around with atmospheric synthwave on the former, and opting for a tongue-firmly-in-cheek rocker on the later. But perhaps the boldest experiment and subsequently one of the best songs on the album is “Smooth Sailing”, which may very well be the closest QOTSA ever get to hip hop. Built around an absolutely filthy-good bass groove, the song manages to be fun, freaky, and good dose trippy; the best elements of  QOTSA boiled down to an enjoyable 5 minutes.

..Like Clockwork takes awhile to find its groove and it does sound cluttered with too many ideas at times, which can be blamed on the shaky recording schedule. It’s not exactly an album that has a ton of consistency going for it, but there are more than enough standout gems to make it all worth it. Indulge Josh Homme in his depressing music and hilariously awful piano ballads, and be rewarded with his enjoyable drug fueled, desert rockers.


Recommended Tracks: "Keep Your Eyes Peeled" , "If I Had A Tail" , "Fairweather Friends" , "My God Is The Sun"