Vulgarity Never Sounded So Good

"Era Vulgaris" is the Latin term for "Common Era," the time in which we are currently living. However, there's nothing common about Queens of the Stone Age or their latest album entitled Era Vulgaris. Unfortunately, this album hasn't gained the popularity it needs to allow QOTSA to lead us into any new era. But popularity be damned - this is a fine album, even if it doesn't kick off a new era of any sort.

Like its predecessors, Era Vulgaris is an adventure in fuzzed-out stoner rock that's dripping with other-side-of-the-pillow cool. Whereas their last couple albums were more diverse, this one is more stylistically consistent, though nowhere does it lack uniqueness.

Opening track "Turnin' on the Screw" immediately sets the pace for the oddities of the album, using a cartoonish industrial sound to back lyrics that are at once silly and confident: "You want a reason? / How's about because / You ain't a has been if you never was ... Fear of failure's all you've started / The jury's in / Verdict: retarded." "I'm Designer" is a strange but cool take on the phony whores of our generation who sleep their way to fortune and fame: "How many times must I sell myself before my pieces are gone?"

The songs remain cool even when they're slowed down. The haunting "Into the Hollow" is pretty much the only track reminiscent of their last album Lullabies to Paralyze. "Suture Up Your Future" is a fun piece of downtempo rock, kept upbeat enough thanks to the funky bass and drum parts that drive it along. The album's highlight is "Make It Wit Chu," a slowed down track with a simple yet infectious chorus. Delivered in a slightly creepy, R&B style, this song oozes sexual energy, which explains why the band created Valentine's Day e-cards and a YouTube makeout contest involving "Make It Wit Chu."

Other tracks are just straight-up blasts of guitar-heavy rock ... with that classic Queens spin, of course. "Battery Acid" is a chugging hard hitter, and first single "Sick, Sick, Sick" rocks the craziness with help from the Strokes' Julian Casablancas on backing vocals and synth guitar. "3's and 7's" harks back to the band's early days and delivers some nifty bits of guitar noise to set it apart. "Run, Pig, Run" is one of the album's most hard rocking tunes, though toward its end, it sounds more like Josh Homme's Demented Fun House, a perfect way to close out the album.

Era Vulgaris is not as diverse as Lullabies to Paralyze or Songs for the Deaf, nor does it have the "Go With the Flow" or "Little Sister"-type hits to help Queens of the Stone Age maintain the pleasantly surprising mass appeal that they've garnered this decade. However, Era Vulgaris is a solid album of inventive rock that sounds nothing like what's on the radio today. And an album like that is just what we need in this Common Era.


Also from Queens of the Stone Age:

Songs For the Deaf
Lullabies to Paralyze