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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Ridglea Theater
By Ken Shimamoto
One of the most unlikely rock ’n’ roll success stories of last year was the Queens of the Stone Age’s album Songs for the Deaf.
The Queens revolve around Josh Homme and Nick Olivieri, the braintrust behind those kings of the stoner-rock age, Kyuss, and the fascinating heavy psychedelia of the Desert Sessions series of albums. So great was their hip cachet in 2002 that they were able to lure head Foo Fighter Dave Grohl to the drums and obtain the services of pre-grunge Seattle icon Mark Lanegan, former frontman for Screaming Trees. The resultant album garnered actual radio play and shifted plenty of units, while the accompanying tour attracted the multitudes, causing some speculation that the “garage-rock” wave had crested and heavy guitar music was back.
For having been made by such a crew with such a resolutely Underground pedigree, Songs is that rare thing — an unashamedly tuneful hard rock record, with sounds to make you cogitate as well as bang your head. Being a geezer, I couldn’t help but spot the vocal and melodic similarities to vintage Cream — the Jack Bruce/Felix Pappalardi influence. The guitar sound is about as muddy as on your average album by Kyuss and their spawn (Fu Manchu, Nebula, the entire catalog of the Music Cartel label). And the nifty fake between-song radio station blather that ties it all together hasn’t been done this well since, uh, The Who Sell Out.
Even if Grohl isn’t gonna be on board for the tour (having returned to his regular gig), this is still the biggest show to come to the Ridglea Theater in many moons, and about time, too. So what else are you doing on a Monday night?
Mon at the Ridglea Theater, 6025 Camp Bowie Blvd, FW. 817-738-9500.
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