Queens Of The Stone Age - 'Era Vulgaris' (Polydor) Released 11/06/07

'Lullabies To Paralyze', the predecessor to this album by QOTSA, felt like there was something missing. Just as Wilco seemed to lose their sense of experimental artistry on this year’s 'Sky Blue Sky', QOTSA without Nick Oliveri seemed an easier proposition. Gone were the hardcore punk freakouts and sense of manic unpredictability and in came a more mature, riff-happy band, making good time voodoo music akin to a less nihilistic Stooges. Not that 'Lullabies To Paralyze' is a weak album by any means, but an element of their sound had left, allowing Josh Homme to assume full control and pour his personality over the work.

'Era Vulgaris' extends the feel 'Lullabies...' had to a band now out of transition and entering a new phase. It’s a simultaneous step forward and back with songcraft coming to the fore but being buried under layers of desert sludge akin to their eponymous debut and Homme’s work in Kyuss. A sense of clarity missing from Kyuss’ stoner epics prevails however and Homme seems more at home in this skin than he had on 'Lullabies...'.  Opener ‘Turning On The Screw’ is indicative of the performance; an elegant guitar line makes way for sludgy riffing. That riff, recalling of a car engine revving, speaks thematic volumes of Homme finally driving off into his own sunset and the album has a feel of a new beginning, a culmination of his previous aims coming together. To give it historical context and comparison, this feels like their 'Goat’s Head Soup', a record not born of singles or with towering highpoints, but based around a cohesive feel or vibe. It sounds very much like a great LA record; a hazy, dirty summer feel reflective of that city’s seedy grandeur.

The key elements of the band come to the fore throughout.  ‘Sick, Sick, Sick’ recalls ‘Feel Good Hit Of The Summer’ in its relentless riffing and jackhammer drums while the highpoints, ‘Suture For The Future’ and ‘River In The Road’ recall the motorik psych of Can and Neu! rather than Sabbath or The Stooges in their hypnotic, virile grooves. Sex flows through their work as usual but ‘Make It Wit Chu’ is as sensual and sexy as anything they’ve previously done while ‘Battery Acid’, the most readily accessible moment here is shot through with Homme’s skewed sense of pop.

It may not be their finest album but it’s a hell of a record; violent, weary, angry, horny and beautiful. More importantly, it signals a new era for one of this age’s finest rock acts and whatever they do, unlike Wilco, they’re always interesting.